Historical Collections Of Louisiana And Florida

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This Volume is for
EFERENCE USE ONLY

HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS

Couieiana anb

INOI/UDINQ

TRANSLATIONS OF ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS RELATING TO THEIR
DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT,

WITH NUMEROUS

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

BY B. F. FRENCH,

MEMBER OF THE LOUISIANA, GEORGIA, PENNSYLVANIA, NEW JXRS3DT, NEW TOBK, AND
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETIES.

SECOND SERIES.

tjistimcal Jtlemoirs anb WarratitJes, 1527-170S,

ISTEW YORK:

ALBERT MASON, PUBLISHER.
1875.

LIEUTENANT G. W. COSTER,

OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY,
THIS VOLUME IS

AS A TOKEN OP ESTEEM AND FRIENDSHIP, AND

ADMIRATION OF HIS PROFESSIONAL AND

SCIENTIFIC ATTAINMENTS,

BY

B. P. FEBHOH.

No. 04 OLINTOK
NEW YOBK,

Sutiobuction.

[HE spirit of adventure which manifested
itself in Europe during the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, was one of
the clearest evidences of an approach-
ing moral and political regeneration.
It indicated the first waking moments

of mind from the torpor which had crept over it, and
the struggle that ensued, though ill-directed and ill-regu-
lated, was yet active, energetic, and earnest working out
into reality and fact, what had seemed before but the
vagary of a dream. There was a movement in Europe,
a progressive movement, whose vital energies were to be
exhausted in new fields. Men were looking out for them-
selves, and indulging in airy fancies ; they panted for new
scenes and enterprises ; they loathed the contracted empire
which Nature had apparently assigned them, and strained
their eyes across wide oceans for new countries. The spirit
which had been awakened was to slumber no more there
was hope for Europe and for the new continent which the
Northmen and Columbus had discovered, and the fifteenth
century opened a way for the sixteenth.

vi INTRODUCTION

It was the fifteenth which produced Columbus, but the
sixteenth and seventeenth carried out his noble conceptions,
and filled the ocean with adventurers and explorers of dis-
tant lands. The country adjacent to the St. Lawrence, Hud-
son, Mississippi, and the savannahs of Florida, were soon
reached by colonists from Spain, France, Holland, and
England, thirsting for glory and gold, for liberty and equal-
ity. In 1513* Juan Ponce de Leon, a veteran cavalier and
seaman, on Easter Sunday, Pascha Floridum^ discovered the
coast of Florida, and landed at a place called the Bay of the
Cross, where he took formal possession and planted a stone
cross as a sign of the jurisdiction of Spam.

He discovered Cape Corrientes (Canaveral), and also the
Tortugas and rocks called the Martyrs ; he then entered the
bay, sometimes called after his name, where he also landed,
and took possession of the country in the name of the Cas-
tilian sovereigns, and returned to Spain, where, by much
solicitation, he obtained the appointment of governor, to
plant a colony in Florida ; and on his return he was re-
pulsed by the natives in attempting to take possession of the
country, and While suffering from the wounds received from
the Indians he was compelled to return to Hispaniola, where
he died.

The voyages of Don Francisco de Garay, governor of
Cuba, now began to throw new light on the discoveries of
Ponce de Leon, and the coast of Florida became better
known ; and with motives of a more sordid nature, Luke
Vasquez de Ayllon, in 1520, equipped two ships, and sailed

INTROD UCTION vil

from Hispaniola to explore the coast and capture the na-
tives. In a few days he made land in the Bay of St. Helena
(South Carolina), and landed on the banks of the l * Jordan "
river (Combahee), in the country called by the Indians " Chi-
chora," where he invited them on board and sailed to St.
Domingo to sell them for slaves ; but, as if to punish his
perfidy, one of his ships foundered at sea, and both captors
and the captives perished together. He again returned to
Spain, and instead of being punished for his piracy, he was
rewarded by Charles the Fifth with a commission as gov-
ernor of all the countries he should discover; and, in 1525,
he went again to St. Helena with three ships, one of which
was stranded at the mouth of the " Jordan," and two hun-
dred of his men were cut off and massacred by the natives ;
and he himself only escaped to die at the recollection of a
life which had been so ignommiously spent.

In this state of affairs, Charles the Fifth, Emperor of
Spain, granted to Pamphilo de Narvaez a commission to
conquer and govern all the country from the River of Palms
(Panuco, in Mexico) to the Cape of Florida. On the i6th of
June, 1527, he sailed from St. Lucar, Spain, with six hun-
dred men, and arrived at the island of Cuba, where he re-
mained some months, but finally departed in March, 1528,
and in April landed in the Bay of Apalache ; and after
issuing a proclamation of destruction to the natives (this
document is printed in this volume) unless they acknowl-
edged the sovereignty of the Pope and the Emperor, he
wandered two hundred leagues or more through the country-

viil INTRODUCTION.

in search of gold. He finally reached the Indian town of
Aute, on the Bay of St. Marks (San Marco clc Apalachc),
where he desperately put to sea in a few small boats, and in
attempting to cross the mouths of the Mississippi in a storm,
he perished at sea, and only four of his men escaped ship-
wreck, three of whom, after years of vicissitude, reached
Mexico nine years after, among whom was Don Alvar Nunez
Cabeca de Vaca, who published his interesting narrative of
the countries or Spanish provinces in the south-west and
New Spain, which he visited in 1530-4. It is supposed that
he was the first, before DC Soto, to cross the Mississippi, at
one of the Chickasaw bluffs, near Memphis, and proceeded
west by the waters of Arkansas to Chihuahua, thence to
Cinaloa, and from thence to Mexico.

After these disasters the vast country of Florida was neg-
lected. But the excited fancy of the Spaniards still, how-
ever, continued to burn for gold and conquest, and after the
lapse of some years, Hernando de Soto, who had been with
Pizarro, in the conquest of Peru, and an account of whose
expedition to Florida was written by a gentleman of Elvas
(supposed to be Benedict Fernandez), which is published,
with that of Biedma, in the second volume of the first series
of the " Historical Collections of Louisiana," now obtained
from Charles the Fifth the appointment of Governor-General
of Florida, and Marquess of all the lands he might conquer.
He set sail from Spain, in 1538, with an ample armament,
and in 1539 he landed at the Bay of Espiritu Santo, now
Tampa Bay, with six hundred and twenty chosen men, and

INTRODUCTION. IX

declared that the enterprise was undertaken for God alone.
He traversed with his army great portions of Georgia, South
Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi, and at
length, in the third year of their journeying, they reached,
what De Soto was long in search of, the Mississippi, the
Indian name of which was Mechacebe, and the Spanish,
" Rio del Espinto Santo " (one hundred and thirty-two
years before its second discovery by Marquette and Joliet),
which the historian of this expedition describes as *' Almost
half a league wide, deep, rapid, and constantly rolling down
trees and drift-wood on its turbid waters. The current was
strong, and with the help of oars they went veiy swiftly. If
a man stood still on the opposite side of it, it could not be
discerned whether he was a man or no. In places it was a
league or more broad, and of great depth, and the water
always muddy," which is unmistakably a description of some
of the physical features of this great river, that De Soto so
much admired for its grandeur and extent, and claimed for
his sovereign ; and in presence of his army he named it "El
Rio Grande dc la Florida" and which name it retained for
over one hundred and thirty years ; while the honor of its
discovery equally belongs to his successor, Don Louis Mos-
coso de Alvarado, who led, after the death of De Soto, the
remainder of his army, in brigantines, down its stream to
the Gulf of Mexico, and from thence to the city of Mexico,
where he announced to the world, not only its physical
features, but gave an account of the various Indian tribes
found upon its banks. In its course this great river receives

INTRODUCTION

on the one side all the waters of the Alleghanies, and on the
other all those of the Rocky Mountains. It stands there
like a gigantic production of nature, with its far-reaching
arms, adapted to bring into connection the most fruitful
States of North America. At this period Spain claimed,
under the name of Florida, the entire coast of North Amer-
ica; but she had not as yet, within this whole extent, built
one fort, or attempted to occupy one harbor or town.

It was ever the characteristic of the Spanish conqueror,
that first in his thoughts and aims was the extension of the
religion in which he was born and bred. The complete
history of the Romish Church in North or South America,
was to embrace the whole conquest or settlement of those
portions held originally by France and Spain. While others
sought gold in the New World, the priests labored for the
propagation of religion and conversion of souls. No expe-
dition left the shores of Spain or France that was not sup-
plied with pious priests.

The first wholly missionary voyage to the shores of Florida
was undertaken by Luis Cancel de Balbastro, a Dominican
friar, in 1547, who was permitted, at the expense of the Em-
peror Charles the Fifth, to proceed to Florida to Christianize
the Indians of that country. He sailed, accordingly, from
Vera Cruz, Mexico, in 1549, bearing to their pious duty
three other zealous brothers, Juan Garcia, Diego de Tolosa,
and Gregoria de Beteta.

They landed on the western coast of Florida, in about 28
of north latitude, the day after Ascension Day ; and after

INTRODUCTION XI

two months wasted in fruitless efforts to conciliate the na-
tives, when all but Beteta had fallen martyrs to the cause of
Christianity, the vessel returned to Vera Cruz. Some years
later (1559), wlien Don Tristan de Luna y Arrelano founded
the colony of Santa Maria dc Fthpina, near Pensacola, he was
accompanied by a provincial bishop and a considerable
corps of priests ; but as his attempt was unsuccessful, his
colony were soon disbanded, as they could not make any
impression upon the natives.* *

It would appear, from this reception of the holy fathers,
the natives had anticipated some trouble from the Spaniards,
which was foreshadowed in an address to the King from Dr.
Santander, July 15, iSS/.f

After the disastrous and tragical termination of so many
attempts to reduce the country of Florida under Spanish
dominion, the zeal of the Spaniards began to abate. But

* Biinton's " Notes on the Flondian Peninsula"

f Addiess to the King . " It is lawful that your Majesty, like a good shep-
heid, appointed by the hand of the Eternal Father, should tend and lead out
your sheep, since the Holy Spirit has shown spreading pastuies wheieon aie
feeding lobt sheep which have been snatched away by the diagon, the Demon.
These pastuies are the New Woild, wheiem is comprised Flonda, now in pos-
session of the Demon, and heie he makes himself adored and leveled This is
the land of pionnse, possessed by idolaters ; this is the land promised by the
Eteinal Fathei to the faithful, since we aie commanded by God, in the holy
Scilptuies, to take it fiom them, being idolaters , and by leason of their idolatry
and sin, to put them all to the knife, leaving no living thing, save maidens and
childien , their cities robbed and sacked, then walls and houses leveled to the.
ealth " This writer then pioposes to occupy Flonda at vanous points, and
found a city to be called Filipina, another at Pensacola, to be called Csesaiea,
another at Tallahassee, and another at Tampa Bay, -where he thinks many slaves
could be had. Parkmarfs " Pioneers of France tn tfa New

xii 1NTR OD UCTION.

the French soon after attempted to establish a colony of
French Protestants (Huguenots) on the eastern coast. " In
the year 1562 a cloud of black and deadly portent was thick-
ening over France ; none could pierce the future. The wild
rage of fanaticism and hate ; friend grappling with friend,
brother with brother, father with son ; altars profaned,
hearthstones made desolate, the robes of Justice heiself bc-
drenched with murder." In these days of gloom Admiral
Coligny ordered Captain Jean de Ribcau (sometimes printed
Ribault) to sail from France with two men-of-war and a large
body of troops, to found a colony of French Protestants.
After a voyage of two months he arrived on the coast of
Florida, in latitude 30 north, near the site of the present
city of St. Augustine. He found the coast low, and covered
with lofty trees. He continued to sail along the coast until
he came to the mouth of a beautiful river which he called
May, from the month in which he made the discovery. lie
entered the mouth of this river, and was kindly received by
the natives. He continued to proceed northerly along the
coast as far as the river Jordan (probably the Combahee),
where he finally resolved on planting his little colony, which
has been since ascertained to be on Lemon Island, a few
miles from the mouth of Port Royal (named Grand by Ri-
bault) River, and took possession of the country in the name
of his sovereign ; erected a pillar with the arms of France
upon it, and built a fort, which he laid out, of a triangular
form, in honor of Charles the Ninth, King of France,, and
which he called Charlesfort (Arx Carolina), and after leav-

IN TROD UCTIOX xi ii

ing twenty-six persons there, he returned to France The
narrative and particulars of this voyage, which was written
in French by Ribault, on his return to France in 1562, is a
rare document, and is now, for the first time, printed in this
country. It is not known that more than two or three
printed copies of it, printed in 1583, now exist. This ex-
pedition was followed by another from France, fitted out, in
1 564, by the King, and commanded by Rene (de Goulaine)
dc Laudonniere, to relieve the colony at Charlesfort ; but
finding, on his arrival, the fort deserted, he determined to
establish a colony on the River May (St. John's), where he
selected a spot for a town on the south side of the river,
about five or six miles from the sea, of which he took pos-
session, and built a fort at what is now St. John's Bluff,
which he named Fort Carolin, and erected a column of
stone, engraved with the arms of France, as a sign of the
jurisdiction of France. The remains of this fort have been
since discovered. It was built of a triangular shape. Every-
where he went he found the natives living in huts built of
wood and clay. In their carriage he found them proud and
erect ; and the comeliness of the females was not surpassed
by those of Europe. Having now finished his fort, he
turned his attention to searching for gold. This gave him
an opportunity to become acquainted with the manners and
customs of the natives. But not finding any mines, he re-
solved to return to France. At this period the legitimists
of France and Spain, Charles the Ninth and Philip the
3 Second, were at perfect peace ; and the latter finding leisure

XIV INTRODUCTION.

to turn his attention to the colonizing of Florida, he se-
lected Don Pedro de Melendez Aviles to conduct the enter-
prise and to have the natives Christianized, lie was vested
with the dignity of a Spanish aclclantado and the hereditary
government of the Floridas. It was in the midst of the
preparations of sailing to Florida that he heard the 11 ujjjue-
nots (French Protestants) had made an establishment on the
coast, and the Propaganda expedition immediately assumed
all the characteristics of a proclaimed crusade. Sovereign
and clergy crowded into the service. In the meantime, Ri-
bault had arrived with a fleet to relieve the colony. In a
few days after Melendez also arrived (on the 4th September,
1565) with a fleet of ships and troops, to take possession of
Florida. Ribault now decided to attack the Spanish flout,
and from prayers they rushed to slaughter. Ribault went
to sea to make the attack, but of a sudden a great tempos!
arose and arrested his designs, which drove his ships down
the Florida coast, and gave the event an entirely new as-
pect to the fortunes of Melendez ; who iii the meantime at-
tacked, with a land force, Fort Carolin, on the St. John's,
and captured it, and hung all the French who manned it,
"not as Frenchmen, but as heretics," except a few who
were killed in the attack, and who made their escape by
leaping the parapet, including M. Laudonnicrc, who after-
wards returned to France in a vessel then lying at some dis-
tance, down the river. The truth of this achievement can-
not be questioned, as Melendez himself commemorated it
by a monument.

INTRODUCTION'. XV

In a few days after the fate of Ribault's fleet was known
as being shipwrecked, with all on board, near Cape Cana-
veral (Corrientes), Melendcz went in search of them at
Matanzas Inlet, and on the assurance that they would be
humanely treated, Ribault surrendered, and his men, as well
as himself and officers, were afterwards taken, in small
parties, behind the sand-hills of the coast, and massacred.
Thus the whole colon}'-, with those in the forts, were de-
stroyed, and all France and England were indignant when
informed of the infamous transaction. But the French
King, Charles the Ninth, was apparently indifferent about it,
and no public notice was taken of the matter till 156/5 when
the Chevalier Dominique de Gourgues a character that
would grace an epic poem a Gascon gentleman, born at
Mount Marson, who had served against the Spaniards in
Italy, and who had retired to private life when the news
came of the massacre of the French by the Spaniards in
Florida, immediately fitted out two ships with troops, and
attacked the Spaniards in the forts they had taken from the
French in Florida, and hung the soldiery, " not as Spaniards,
but as traitors, murderers, and robbers." He afterwards
demolished the forts, and returned to France. " Romantic
as this exploit was, it lacked, however," says Parkman, " the
fulness of poetic justice, since the chief offender, Melendez,
escaped him. He it was who remained to crush French
Protestantism in America."

In this volume will also be found a full statement, by the
Chevalier de Gourgues himself, of this remarkable expedi-

xvi INTRODUCTION.

tion against the Spaniards, in 1567-8, to revenge the mas-
sacre of the French colony ; also a translation of the narra-
tive of Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajalcs, chapLiin of
the expedition commanded by Mclcndez de Aviles, a most
zealous hater of heretics. " He shows how the special
Providence of God watched over the enterprise," says JJrin-
ton, " how divers wondrous miracles were at once proof and
aid of the pious work, and how in sundry times and places
God manifestly furthered the holy work of bloodshed. But
the most valuable portion of the memoir is that in which he
describes the founding of St. Augustine, entering into the
movements of the Spaniards with more detail than Don
Solis de las Meras ;" and also the account of the massacre
by Don Solis de las Meras, translated from Barcia, " Knsziyo
Chronologico Historia General de la Florida," who hold up
Melendez as a model of Christian virtue and valor. " The
Spanish accounts of this massacre of the Protestants in
Florida/' says Brinton, in his " Notes on Florida/* " though
agreeing, as regards the facts, with those of the French, take
a very different theoretical view. The massacre of the Prot-
estants (Huguenots) is excused with cogent reasoning for
exterminating this nest of pestilent unbelievers. Could
they be ignorant that they were breaking the laws of nations
by settling on Spanish soil?" The Council of the Indies
argue the point, and prove the infringement in a still extant
document appended to the Compte-Rendu of Guido de las
Bazares, which is translated and published in this volume, in
English. But much more valuable is the memoir of Her-

f INTRODUCTION

nando D'Escalante Fontaneda, who boasts that he could
speak four Indian languages, and who afterwards accompa-
nied the expedition of the Adelantado Melendez de Aviles
to Florida. " The geographical notices of this author,"
says Brinton, " are indeed valuable, particularly in locating
the ancient Indian tribes of that country."

Among the original narratives published in this volume
there is none of more importance than the history of M.
D'Iberville's several expeditions made to colonize Louis-
iana, which is now for the first time translated and printed
in any language, giving an account of all that took place, as
well as a description of the country, and manners and cus-
toms of the Indian tribes of that country ; establishing im-
portant data which are not to be found elsewhere.

And should this volume meet with the encouragement ex-
pected, it will be followed by translations of other original
manuscripts, obtained from the archives of France and
Spain, of important historical interest, not to be found in
print, showing the gradual progress made by Louisiana and
Florida from Colonial dependence to Free and Independent
States.

OF

ROBERT CAVALIER, SIEUR DE LA SALLE,

ADDRESSED TO

MONSEIGNEUR DE SEIGNELAY,

ON THE

DISCO VJERIES MADE BY HIM BY ORDER OF HIS MAJESTY LOUIS XIV , KING-
OP FRANCE

TIIANH.LATBD FROM A COPT OP THE OIHGXXAL MAXT^CBIPT DEPOSITED IN THE
DEPARTMENT, PARIto

IONSEIGNEUR COLBERT was of

opinion, with regard to the various prop-
ositions which were made in 1678, that
it was important for the glory and service
of the King to discover a port for his
vessels in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Sieur de la Salle offered to undertake the discovery,
at his own expense, if it should please his Majesty to grant
to him the seigniory of the government of the forts which
he should erect on his route, together with certain privileges,
and an indemnification for the great outlay which the ex-
pedition would impose on him. Such grant was made to
him by letters patent of the I2th of May, 1678.*

* Letters Patent Gt anted to Robert Cavalier^ Sieur de la Salle, 1678
Louis, by the Grace of God, King of France and of Navarre, To our dear and

well-beloved Robeit Cavaliei, Sieur de la Salle, greeting
We have leceived with favoi the very humble petition which has been pre-

2 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF f 1 6 78.

In order to execute this commission, he abandoned all his
own pursuits which did not relate to it. lie did not omit
anything necessary for success. Notwithstanding danger-
ous sickness, considerable losses, and other misfortunes which
he suffered, which would have discouraged any other person
not possessed of the same zeal with himself, and the same

sented to us in youi name, to peimit you to endeavoi to discovet the west CM n
part of New Fiance , and we have consented to this pioposal the moie willingly
because there is nothing we have moie at heait than the diseoveiy of tins
countiy, thiough vhich it is piobable a load may be found to ptMU'tKde to
Mexico, and because youi diligence in cleaung lands which we g\ anted to you
by the deciee of oiu Council of the I3lh May, 1675, and by lettcis patent <>(
the same date, to foim habitations upon the same lands, .mil to put Foil Kioiito
nac m a good state of defense, the seigmoiy and government whciuof wt> like-
wise granted to you, affoid us eveiy icason to hope that you will succeed to oiu
satisfaction, and to the.advantage of oiu subjects of the said count ty.

For these reasons, and otheis theieunto moving \is, NSC have permitted, and
do hereby peimit you, by these piesents, signed by oiu hand, to cMidcnvor to
discovei the western pait of New Fiance, and foi the execution of this entei-
puse to constiuct foits wheievei you shall deem it necessaiy , which it is oiu
will that you shall hold on the same teims and conditions as Foit KrontcMinr,
agieeably and comformably to our said Letteis Patent of the nth Maich, 1675,
which we have confiimed, as fai as is needful, and hcioby coulum by these
piesents And it is oiu pleasme that they be executed accuidmg to then foim
and tenoi

To accomplish this and eveiythmg mentioned we give you full poweis ; on
condition, however, that you shall finish this enteipiise within five ycius, in
default of which these piesents shall be void and of none effect ; that you cairy
on no tiade whatever with the savages called Outaouacs, and otheis, who bnng
then beavei-skins and othei peltnes to Montieal , and that the whole shall be
done at your expense and that of your company, to which we have giant eel the
privilege of the tiade m buffalo-skius And we command the Sicur do Fnmtenac,
our Govemor and Lieutenant-Geneial, and the Siciu Duchesne Inlcndant, and
the other officeis who compose the supreme Council of the said countiy, to affix
their signatures to these piesents foi such is our pleasuie.

1678.] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA 3

industry in the performance of the undertaking, he made
five voyages, under extraordinary hardships, extending over
five thousand leagues, most commonly on foot, through
snow and water, almost without rest, during five years.

Given at St Gei main- en-Lay e, this I2th day of May, 1678, and om leign the
thiily-fiflh. (Signed) Louis.

By the King, COLBERT

Second Letters Patent Granted Sieur de la Salle,
Louis, by the giace of God, King of France and of Navane, greeting

Having resolved to cause some expeditions to be undei taken, in Noith
Amcuca, to subject to oui dominion divers savage tubes, and to convey to them
the light of the faith and of the Gospel, we have been of the opinion that we
could not make a better choice than of Sieur de la Salle to command, m our
name, all the Fienchnien and Indians whom we will employ for the execution
of the 01 dei s we have enti listed unto him. For these and other icasons Us
moving, and being, moieovei, well informed of his affection and fidelity for our
service, We have, by these piesents, signed by oui o\\n hand, constituted and
oidainecl, and do commission and ordain, the said Sieiu de la Salle, to command
under oui authonty, ab well in the countiy which will be subject anew to our
dominion m North Amenca, fiorn Foit St. Louis on the Illinois River unto Xew
Biscay (Texas), as well among the Fiench and Indians \\hom he will employ in
the expedition we have enti listed to his caie, cause them to live in union and
concord the one with the other , keep the soldieis in good oider, and police,
accoidmg to our rules , appoint goveinors and special commanders in the places
he shall think pioper, until it shall be by us otherwise oideied , maintain trade
and tiaffic, and geneially to do and exercise for us in the said countiy all that
shall appeitam to the office of commandant, and enjoy its poweis, honors,
authonties, piciogatives, franchises, libeities, wages, rights, fruits, piofits, revenues
and emoluments, during our pleasuie to execute which we have given, and do
give, unto you powei, by these piesents, whereby we command all our said
subjects and soldieis to acknowledge, obey, and hear you in things relating to
the piesent powei For such is oui pleasuie.

In witness wheieof we have caused our pnvy seal to be affixed to these
pieseuts*.

Given at Veisailles the 14 th Apiil, 1684.

By the King, (Signed) Louib.

4 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

He has traversed more than six hundred leagues of un-
known country, among many barbarian and cannibal nations
(Anthropophages), against whom he was obliged to fight
almost daily, although he was accompanied by only thirty-
six men; having no other consolation before him than a
hope of bringing to an end an enterprise which he believed
would be agreeable to his Majesty.

After having happily executed this design, he hopes
Monseigncur will be pleased to continue in the title and
government of the fort which he has had erected in the
country of his discovery, where he has placed several French
settlers, and has brought together many savage nations,
amounting to more than eighteen thousand in number,
who have built houses there, and sown much ground, to
commence a powerful colony.

This is the only fruit of an expedition of one hundred and
fifty thousand ecus, the only means of satisfying his credit-
ors, who advanced to him the aid which he required, after
very considerable losses. He believes that he has sufficiently
established the truth of his discovery by the official instru-
ment, signed by all his companions, which was placed last
pear in the hands of Monscigneur Colbert by the Count do
Frontenac; as also by a report diawn up by the Rev. Father
Zenobe Membre,* missionary, who accompanied him during

* Father Zenobe Membie was the faithful and devoted fnend of Cavalici <lc
a Salle, and to whom we aie indebted for an account of what took place in
Louisiana and Texas from 1682 to 1687.

He was the cousin of Fathei Chiistian Le Cleicq, who afteiwaidb published

1678.] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA 5

this voyage, and who is at this time guardian of Bapaume ,
by the testimony of three persons who accompanied him, and
whom he has brought with him to France, and who are now
in Paris; and by the testimony of many other persons who
came this year from Canada, and who have seen one Vital,
sent by M. de la Barre to collect information respecting him
on the spot, and who has confirmed the truth of the discovery.
All these proofs are sufficient to contradict whatever may
have been written to the contrary by persons who have no
knowledge of the country where the discovery was made,

his joiunal in the " Etablissement de la Foy " He was fiist sent to Canada as
a mission aiy in 1675, fiom which time till 1678 he was employed in missionary
ancl othei labors, until his depaiture m 1678 to Fort Frontenac, where he joined
M. de la Salic to go to Mackinaw, and fiom thence to Fort Crevecoeur, m
Illinois, whciehc laboied assiduously with Fathei Gabuel, to conveit the heathen,
till the autumn of 1680. In the spting of i68r, he descended the Mississippi
with M de la Salle, to the Gulf of Mexico , and on then return, he proceeded,
at the icquest of M, de la Salle, to Fiance, in 1682, to lay before the King and
Couit, the result of his expedition

After fulfilling his mission at the couit of Louis XIV., he became waiden
of the Recollects at Bapaume, then in the Spanish Netherlands, and remained
there until he was appointed, at the lequest of M de la Salle, Supenor of the
Mi&sionaucs (Anastase Douay, Maxime Le Cleicq, Denis Maiquet, Cavalier,
Chedcville, and Majulte) who accompanied the expedition to Louisiana (Texas),
and having reached that country in safety, he afterwards began a mission among
the friendly Indians, with Fathers Cavalier and Le Clercq. The colony, after the
depaiture of M. de la Salle in seaich of the Colbert (Mississippi) m 1687, was
attacked and cut to pieces by the Indian tubes of the country , priest and
soldiei, husband and wife, old and young, all of whom perished, except a few
who made their escape and those who had gone with La Salle.

The Spanish account of the Massacie of the colony of La Salle on the
Lavacca, Texas, is i elated by Baicia in his woik, entitled " Ensayo Chronologic
Histonca da la Florida" pp. 294-8

Texas, at this time, was without a boundary, and almost without a name, except

6 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF ["1678

never having been there. But he hopes to remove all these
prejudices, by carrying into execution the design which he
entertains, under the favor of Monscigncur, of returning to
the country of his discovery by the mouth of the river, in
the Gulf of Mexico; since he must have lost his senses, if
without being certain of the means of arriving where he pro-
poses, he exposed not only his own fortune, and that of his
friends, to manifest destruction, but his own honor and reputa-
tion to the unavoidable disgrace of having imposed on the
confidence of his Majesty and of his ministers.

Of this there is less likelihood, because he h<is no interest
to disguise the truth, since, if Monseigncur does not think it
convenient to undertake any enterprise in that direction, he
will not ask anything from his Majesty until his return from
the Gulf of Mexico, confirming the truth of wh.it he has al-
leged. With reference to the assertion that his voyage would

Louisiana. The Spaniards had not yet penetiated the coimtiy eusl of the Rio
Grande del Norte, below Paso del Noite ; and La Halle was endeavoring to make
Fiance believe he was in the vicinity of the mouth of the Mississippi, and that
Texas was a part of Louisiana The countiy no doubt belonged to Fiance, by
light of discoveiy and settlement as well as by national law. The Spanuuds
weie no\v, howevei, aioused fiom then supmencss by the vigoi of Louis XIV ,
who had sent La Salle to take possession and found a colony; ami who uftet-
waids, m 1712, gianted a chnrter to Anthony Ciozart for the whole of Louisiana,
as far as the Rio Giande del Noite, who had m view the woiking of the mines
in Texas, and a profitable tiade with the noithcaslern provinces of Mexico
(See Charter in first scries of the Historical Collections of Louisiana, voL 3, //
38-42 ) The colony in Texas washowcvei commenced by M de la Salle undei
the sanction of his Soveieign, notwithstanding the monstious pretensions of
Spain, which laid the foundation of a controveisy that was not finally closed
until the tieaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, made between the United States and
Mexico on the 2d Februaiy, 1848.

1678.] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 7

produce no profit to France, he replies, that if he proposed
it as a thing to be done, and on that account sought for as-
sistance to undertake the enterprise, or reward after having
succeeded in it, its usefulness would deserve consideration ;
and being here only in order to render an account of the
orders he received, he does not think himself to be responsi-
ble but for their execution, it not being his duty to examine
the intentions of Monseigneur Colbert. Having, however,
observed great advantages which both France and Canada
tnay derive from his discovery, he believes that he owes this
detail to the glory of the king, the welfare of the kingdom,
to the honor of the ministry of Monseigneur, and to the
memory of him who employed him upon this expedition.
He docs this the more willingly, as his requests will not ex-
pose him to a suspicion of self-interest ; and as the influence
which he has acquired over the people of that continent
places him in a position to execute what he proposes, the
things which* he states will find greater credit in the minds
of those who shall investigate them.

Firstly, the service of God may be established there by
the preaching of the Gospel to numerous docile and settled
(scdcntaires) nations who will be found more willing to receive
it than those of other parts of America, upon account of
their greater civilization.

Secondly, we can effect there for the glory of our King
very important conquests, both by land and sea , or, if peace
should oblige us to delay the execution of them, we might,
without giving any cause of complaint, make preparations to

8 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1678.

render us certain of success, whenever it shall please the King
to command it.

The provinces which may be seized are very rich in silver
mines (Texas and New Mexico), they adjoin the river Colbert
(Mississippi), they are far removed from succor, they are open
everywhere on the side on which we should attack them, and
are defended by only a small number of persons, so sunk in
effeminacy and indolence as to be incapable of enduring the
fatigue of wars of this description.

The Sieur de la Salle binds himself to have this enterprise
ripe for success within one year after his arrival on the spot,
and asks only for this purpose, one vessel, some army and
munitions, the transport maintenance, and pay of two hun-
dred men during one year. Afterwards he will maintain them
from the produce of the country, and supply their other wants
through the credit and confidence which he has obtained
among these nations, and the experience which he has had
of those regions. He will give a more detailed account of
this proposal when it shall please Monseigneur to direct him.
Thirdly, the river is navigable for more than a hundred
leagues for ships, and for barks for more than five hundred
leagues to the north, and for more than eight hundred from
east to west. Its three mouths are as many harbors, capa-
ble of receiving eveiy description of ships ; where those of
his Majesty will always find a secure retreat, and all that may
be necessary to refit and revictual, which would be a great
economy to his Majesty, who would no longer find it neces-
sary to send the things needed from France at a great ex-

1678.] LOUISIANA AKD FLORIDA 9

peuse, the country producing a greater part of them. We
could even build there as many ships as we should desire,
the materials for building and rigging being in abundance,
with the exception of iron, which may be discovered. *

This newly-discovered country has besides its other
advantages, that of the soil, which being well timbered,
forms a campaign of great fertility and extent. The mild-
ness of the climate is favorable to the raising of cattle,
which causes great expense when the winter is severe. There
is a prodigious number of buffaloes, stags, hinds, bears,
wolves and foxes. Hides and furs in the greatest abundance
are to be had for almost nothing. There are cotton, sugar,
cochineal, indigo, entire forests of mulberry trees, apple,
orange and plum trees, vines, salt, slate, and coal.

It will not be necessary to import from Europe horses,
oxen, swine, fowls, or turkeys, which are to be found in
every part of the country; nor to import provisions for the
colonists, who would quickly find subsistence.

Whilst other colonies are open and exposed to the descents
of foreigners by as many points as their coasts are washed
by the sea, whereby they are placed under a necessity of
having many persons to watch these points of access; one
single post established towards the lower part of the river
will be sufficient to protect a territory extending more than
eight hundred leagues from north to south and still farther
from east to west, because its banks are only accessible

* This discovery has since been made and ascei tamed that noith- western
Texas abounds in the nchest deposits both of non, coal, and limestone.

10 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF \ 1678.

from the sea through the mouth of the river, the remainder
of the coast being impenetrable inland for more than twenty
leagues, in consequence of woods, swamps, and boi^s, through
which it is impossible to march, and this may have been the
reason why the exploration of that river was neglected by
the Spaniards, if they have had any knowledge of it." x * This
country is well defended in the interior against the irruptions
of neighboring Europeans, by great chains of mountains,
stretching from east to west, from which the branches of
the river take their source.

It is true that the country is more open towards the
southwest, where it borders on Mexico, where the very

*The honor of the fiist discoveiy of the Mississippi (Colbeil) Rivei in
1519, belongs t o the Spamaids, which Navaiiete, the Spanish hisioiian, con-
clusively establishes, in his woik entitled ** Colkcion de los vhtgct y tfa< it-
biimientos? etc , vol. 3, p 64 , " The exciting news of the conquest of Mexico
by Coitez leached the Spanish goveinors and settleis of the Antilles, when
seveial of the ''Conquistadors' hastened to explore the noithcin slmies of the
Gulf of Mexico ; and that Don Alonzo Alvaie^ Pineda, an oflicci in the service
of Don Fiancisco de Gaiay, governor of Jamaica, smvoyed a gieat p*xit of tins
noithein coast, in 1519, and discoveied the Mississippi River, which he named
' Rio del Rspintti Santo j and afteiwards msciibed the name on then maps and
chaits. Two expeditions were afteiwards undei taken m that dnection ; one
by Pamfilo de Naivaez, and the other, the most impoitant of all, by Uciuando
de Soto, m 1539-41 (see ' Histoucal Coll of Louisiana,' vol. 2, pp. 107-168),
and which was well known to himundei that name when he set out to exploie
Flonda, and aftei i caching and crossing it at (it is supposed) 01 neai the
present city of Memphis, and extending his exploiations faithei up the nvei,
probably as far as the present city of Cano, and seeing its gieat affluents
pounng in on one side and on the other, coming, as he justly supposed, fiom
the temtoiy of an immense, continent i caching to the Pacific Ocean, lie named
it in piesence of his aimy ' El Rio Gtande del Florida? which it long xetamed
in the wiitings of Spanish histoiians."

1678.] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA II

navigable river, the Sabloniere (Red River of Louisiana),
which is one of the branches of the Colbert (Mississippi) is
only separated by a forest of three to four days' journey in
depth. But besides that the Spaniards there are feeble and
far removed from the assistance of Mexico, and from that
which they could expect by sea, this country is likewise
protected from their insults by a great number of warlike
savages'"" who close this passage to them, and who, constantly
engaged with them in cruel wars, would certainly inflict
greater evil, when sustained by some French, whose more
mild and more humane mode of governing will prove a great
means for the preservation of the peace made between them
and the Sieur de la Salle.

To maintain this establishment, which is the only one
required in order to obtain all the advantages mentioned, two
hundred men only are needed, who would also construct the
fortifications and buildings, and effect the clearings necessary
for the sustenance of the colony; after which there would be
no further expenditure. The goodness of the country will
induce the settlers to remain there willingly. The ease in
which they will live will make them attend to the cultivation
of the soil, and to the production of the articles of com-
merce, and will remove all desire to imitate the inhabitants

* The Fiench who came with La Salle to Texas weie so unacquainted with
Indian languages and then mode' of spelling them, that it is difficult to identify
them with the piesent tubes Take for example the following

Caranjkawaes, Kironnonas, Genes Assoii^s, A-Simaes Asinaes,
Comanches Cannensis. Vtdais Bedais.

12 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF '

of New France, who are obliged to seek subsistence in the
woods under great fatigues, in hunting for peltries, which arc
their principal resource. These vagrant courses, common in
New France, will be easily prevented in the new country,
because, as its rivers are all navigable, there will be a great
facility for the savages to come to our settlements, and for
us to go to them, in boats which can ascend all the branches
of the river.

If foreigners anticipate us they will deprive France of all
the advantages to be expected from the success of the enter-
prise. They will complete the ruin of New France, which
they already hem in through Virginia, Pennsylvania, New
England, and the Hudson's Bay. They will not fail to
ascend the river* as high as possible, and establish colonies

*The pi unity of the discoveiy of the Mississippi by Cavahci do la Sal Us over
Maiquette and Joliet in 1672, is intimated in the discoveiy of iccent manuscripts.
In 1669 Dela Salle had gone m quest of the loute to China by the Ohio, winch
he believed lan westwaid to the Pacific Ocean. Abandoned by his companions,
he was only enabled to descend the Ohio to its falls , but in the following year,
pioceeding to the noithwest by the gieat lakes, he had unexpectedly discovered
a great unknown river, the Mississippi, the nval of the St, Lawienee (1670-72),
of which his enemies attempted to depuve him of the honor of the discoveiy. As
intelligent as intrepid, as soon a& he perceived the Mississippi ran southeast to the
Gulf of Mexico, he proposed to himself a new aim without abandoning the old
one, and pioposed to Fiance to open a double load to the two oceans. The
great Colbert eagerly seized this idea and lesolved to found a naval and nnhtaiy
settlement in the Gulf of Mexico, which would secuie to Fiance against Spain
the fiee navigation of these seas, and the communication of Canada with the
West Indies Cavalier de la Salle, theiefoie, connected by a chain of posts the
basins of the St Lawrence and the Mississippi, and sent, fiom 1679-80, the
Recollect Henepm, to ascend the Mississippi to its source , and afteAvaids he
embarked on this nver, Febmary 2, 1682, and floated down its cuirent to its

1678.] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 13

in the places nearest to the savages who now bring their furs
to Montreal they will make constant inroads into the
countries of the latter, which could not be repressed by
ordinances of his Majesty. They have already made several
attempts* to discover this passage, and they will not neglect
it now that the whole world knows that it is discovered, since

mouth, and on the gih of Apiil took possession, in the name of Louis XIV., and
gave to the basin of the Mississippi the name of Louisiana (See Proces Verbal,
published m this volume, including a description of the country boideimg on this
gieat nver) Fioin thence he returned to Quebec through a thousand obstacles
and dangeis, raised not by the jealousy of the Spaniards 01 the English, but by
that of his own countrymen New France extended thenceforth, at least
nominally, fiom the Gulf of St Lavvience to the Gulf of Mexico, enclosing be-
tween its two gieat fluvial basins the English colonies

The intrepid explorer of Louisiana was not destined, however, to plant a
successful colony there He ictuined to France in 1683, and obtained of the
King a few vessels and two hundied men to reconnoitei by sea the mouth of the
Mississippi "(Colbeit) which he had disco veied, to found a colony theie, and
attempt to wrest from the Spaniaids the mines of New Biscay, but the jealousy
of de Beaujeu, the commander of the expedition, compelled him to land, not at
the enhance of the Mississippi but at a bay (St. Bernaid 01 Matagoida 1 ) now
within the boundanes of Texas And after causing the failuie of the expedition
by his obstinacy, he abandoned and veritably betiayed him, and as Cavalier de la
Salle was attempting to reach the Mississippi by land, he was massacred on the
head wateis of the Trinity River, Texas, by one of his lebelhous comrades, 1687.

* The English asseit that Colonel Wood, of Viigima, spent at different times,
from 1654 to 1664, several yeais in the discovery of the Mississippi River, which
is not impiobable, as Daniel COK, in his account of Louisiana, and who sent an
expedition theie of two ships of war to take possession, in 1698, which he claimed
as a giant from the English government, and described in his work on
Louisiana, from memoirs and journals kept by persons who had been sent there,
which is not impiobable. It is evident his vessels had reached and explored
the lower Mississippi befoie the French expedition commanded by M D'lber-
ville had enteied it. (See new series of Historical Collections of Louisiana and
Florida, pp. 59-60.)

14 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1678.

the Dutch have published in their newspapers upwards of a
year ago.

Nothing more is required than to maintain the possession
taken by the Sieur de la Salle, in order to deprive them of
such a desire, and to place ourselves in a position to under-
take enterprises against them glorious to the arms of his
Majesty, who will probably derive the greatest benefits from
the duties he will levy there as in our other colonies. What-
ever has been imagined respecting the mucl and breakers
which have been supposed to stop the mouth of the Colbert
or Mississippi (Mechas-cebc), is easily disproved by the ex-
perience of those who have been there (the Spaniards), and
who found the entrance fine, deep, and capable of admitting
the largest vessels. It would appear that the land, or
de terrc, are covered in many parts with trees growing a
the channel of the river very far into the sea ; and where
the sea is deep they would not be suspected, because even
the outlets or creeks to the sea arc tolerably deep at that
distance, and besides there is every appearance that the cur-
rent of the river has formed these kind of dikes by shoving
on both sides the mud with which the winds fill the neigh-
boring creeks, because those causeways are to the right and
left of the river, forming for it a bed, as it were, by this
separation.

In the " Memoir " respecting New Biscay,* the difficulty

* New Biscay, the most noithein piovmce of Mexico in the seventeenth cen-
tury, was situated between 25 and 27 30' noith. latitude, and fiom this piov-
ince the Indians extended themselves to the Seignelay (Aikan^as) River.

1678.] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 15

has been dealt with respecting the constancy of the Indians.
They know too well how important it is to them to live on
good terms with us to fail in their fidelity, in which they
have never been known to fail in New France. Such an
event is still less to be apprehended from those who are
obedient and submissive to their chiefs, whose will it is
sufficient to gain in order to keep the rest in obedi-
ence.

3

EXPEDITION OF M. CAVALIER DE LA SALLE*

TO EXPLOKB THE (MISSISSIPPI) COLBERT RIVER, AND TAKE POSSESSION OF
LOUISIANA, UNDER THE ORDERS AND LETTERS PATENT OP LOUIS STV ,
KING OF FRANCE, IN 1082

TRANSLATED PJROt A COPT OF TUB ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT (PROOES VERBAL^ DEPOSITED
THE ARCHIVES OF THE " MINISTERS DE LA MARINE ET DE' COLONIES," PARIS

ACQUES DE LA METAIRIE, notary
of Fort Frontenac in New France, com-
missioned to exercise the said function
of notary during the voyage to Louis-
iana, in North America, by M. de la
Salle, Governor of Fort Frontenac, for
the King, and commandant of the said discovery by the
commission of his Majesty, given at St. Germain, on the
1 2th May, 1678.

" To all those to whom these presents shall come, greet-

* Accoidmg to ancient iccoids, De la Salle's name m full was wntten Rene
Robeit Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle La Salle was the name of an estate near
Rouen, Fiance, belonging to the Cavaheis The M ealthy French buighers often
distinguished the vaiious membeis of their families by designations borrowed
from landed estates. He had an eldei brother in Canada, the Abbe Jean Ca^a-
hei, a pnest of St. Sulpice

18 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1682.

ing Know that having been requested by the said Sicur.
de la Salle to deliver to him an act, signed by us and the
witnesses therein named, of possession by him taken of the
country of Louisiana, near the three mouths of the river
Colbert (Mississippi), in the Gulf of Mexico, in the month of
April, A. D. 1682.

" In the name of the most high, mighty, invincible, and
victorious Prince, Louis the Great, by the grace of God King
of France and of Navarre, fourteenth of that name, and of
his heirs, and the successor of his crown, we, the aforesaid
notary, have delivered the said act to the said Stcur de la
Salic, the tenor whereof follows.

" On the 27th of December, 1681, J/. dc la Salic departed
on foot to join M. dc Tonty, who had preceded him with hib
followers and all his equipage forty leagues into the Miamis
country ,"* where the ice on the river Chicagou, in the country
of the Mascoutcns, had arrested his progress, and where,
when the ice became stronger, they used sledges to drag the
baggage, the canoes, and a wounded Frenchman through
the whole length of this river, and on the Illinois, a distance
of seventy leagues.

" At length, all the French being together, on the 25th of
January, 1682, we came to Pimiteoui.f From that place,
the river being frozen only in some parts, we continued our

* The Miamis Indians weie settled, when Maiquette exploied the Missis-
sippi Rivei, at the south end of Lake Michigan.

f Lake Pimiteoui (Peona, on the Illinois Rivei), where M. do la Salic had
pieviously built forts St Louis and Crevecour.

1 682.] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA 1 9

route to the River Colbert (Mississippi *), sixty leagues or
thereabouts from Pimiteoui, and ninety leagues or there-
abouts from Pimiteoui (Peoria) to the village of the Illinois.^
We reached the banks of the River Colbert on the 6th of
February, and remained there until the I3th, waiting for the
Indians, whose progress had been impeded by the ice. On the
1 3th, all having assembled, we renewed our voyage, being
twenty-two Frenchmen, carrying arms, accompanied by the
Reverend Father Zenobe Membre % and one of the Recollect
missionaries, and followed by eighteen New England sav-
ages and several women, Algonquins, Otchepose, and
Hurons.

11 On the fourteenth, we arrived at the village of Maroa,
consisting of a hundred cabins, without inhabitants. Proceed-
ing about one hundred leagues down the River Colbert, we
went ashore to hunt, on the 26th of February. A French-
man was lost in the woods, || and reported to M. de la Salle,
that a large number of savages had been seen in the vicinity.
Thinking that they might have seized the Frenchman, and in

* The nairie of Colbert was given to this river by Governor Fiontenac of
Canada m honoi of the gieat Fiench minister Colbert, who died soon after its
exploiation by Maiquette and Johet in 1673.

f The piesent city of Peoria is not upon the site of the old Indian village or
mission of Peoua, but upon the old site of La Villa de Maillet.

J Father Zenobe was afteiwaid massacred by the Indianb at Fort St Louis,
on St, Bernaid's (now Matagorda) Bay, Texas, in 1689.

Maroa or Tamaioa, an Illinois village, where Cahokia was aftei wards built.

|| The first Chickasaw bluff wheie Foit Piudhomme vas built by the French-
men, and subsequently Foit Panmure by the English, and San Fernando de Ba-
rancas by the Spaniaids.

20 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1682

*
order to observe these savages, he marched through the woods

during two days, but without finding them, because they had
all been frightened by the guns which they had heard, and
had fled.

" Returning to camp, he sent in every direction French and
Indians on the search, with orders, if they fell in with the
savages, to take them alive, without injury, that he might
gain from them intelligence of this Frenchman. Gabriel Bar-
bie, with two savages, having met five of the Chickasaw na-
tion, captured two of them. They were received with all
possible kindness, and after he had explained to them that
he was anxious about a Frenchman, who had been lost, and
that he only detained them that he might rescue him from
their hands if he was really among them and afterwards
make with them an advantageous peace (the French doing
good to everybody), they assured him that they had not
seen the man whom we sought, but that peace would be re-
ceived with the greatest satisfaction. Presents were then
given to them, and, as they signified that one of their vil-
lages was not more than half a day's journey distant, M. de
la Salle set out the next day to go thither ; but after travel-
ing till night, and having remarked that they often contra-
dicte'd themselves in their discourse, he declined to go any
farther without more provisions. Having pressed them to
tell the truth, they confessed that it was yet four days' jour-
ney to their villages ; and perceiving that M. de la Salle was
angry at having been deceived, they proposed that one of
them should remain with him, while the other carried the

1 682.] LOUISIANA AN& FLORIDA. 21

news to the village, whence the elders would come and join
them four days' journey below that place. The said Sieur
de la Salle returned to the camp with one of these Chicka-
saws, and the French whom we sought having been found,
he continued his voyage, and passed the River Chepontias, *
and the village of the Metsigameas (Mitchigamea).f The
fog, which was very thick, prevented his finding the passage
which led to the rendezvous proposed by the Chickasaws.

" On the 1 2th of March, we arrived at the Kapaha\ vil-
lage, on the Arkansas. Having established a peace there,
and taken possession, we passed, on the iSth, another of
their villages, situated on the border of their river, and
also two others, farther off in the depth of the forest, and
arrived at that of Imaha, the largest village of this nation,
where peace was confirmed, and where the chief acknowledged
that the village belonged to his Majesty. Two Akansas em-
barked with M. de la Salle to conduct him to the Talusas
(Taensas), their allies, about fifty leagues distant, who inhabit
eight villages upon the borders of a little lake. On the

* Supposed to be the St Fiancis Rivei

f A warlike tube that lived on a lake of that name, near the Rivei St Fianci*

\ This village was situated on a high hill, about half a league from the mouth
of the Aikansas River. Heie La Salle fust took formal possession of the countiy,
and diew from the chief an acknowledgment of fealty to Louis XIV , and a cross
raised beaiing the aims of France.

When the Fiench fiist discovered the Akansa (Arkansas Rivei), the nation or
tiibes on the Akansa were known as, ist, the Kapaha (Quapaws) 2d, the Ton-
genga or Topmgas, 3d, the Toiiman, 4th, the Atotchasi, Osotonoy, Sauthouis,
Otsotchove, a icmnant of whom still remain, and are known as the Quapaws.

22 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1682.

we passed the villages of Tourika (Tonicas), Yasou (Yazoo),
and Koroas ; but as they did not border on the river, and
were hostile to the Akansas and Taensas, we did not stop
there.

" On the 2Oth we arrived at the Taensas, by whom we
were exceedingly well received, and who supplied us with a
large quantity of provisions. M. de Tonty passed a night
at one of their villages, where there were about seven hun-
dred men carrying arms, assembled in the place. Here again
a peace was concluded, * A peace was also made with the
Koroas, whose chief came there from the principal village of
the Koroas, ten leagues distant from that of the Natchez.
The two chiefs accompanied M. dc la Salle to the banks of
the river. Here the Koroa chief embarked with him (on Eas-
ter Sunday, the 29th of March), to conduct him to his village,
where peace was again concluded with this nation, which,
besides -the five other villages of which it is composed, is al-
lied to nearly forty others. On the 3 1st we passed the village
of the Oumas without knowing it, on account of the fog, and
its distance from the river.

" On the 3d of April, at about ten o'clock in the morning,
we saw, among the canes, thirteen or fourteen canoes. M.
de la Salle landed, with several of his people. Footprints

* The Taensas were first described by Fathet Zenobe Membie, who accompa-
nied La Salle in tins expedition, and from this time foiward weie the uue friends
of the Fiench. They spoke the same language, and had the same manneis,
habits, and leligious customs of the Natchez, of which, Le Page du Piatz says,
they were a bianch

1 682.] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 23

were seen, and^ also savages, a little lower down, who were
fishing, and who fled precipitately as soon as they discovered
us. Others of our party then went ashore on the borders of
a marsh formed by the inundations of the river. M. de la
Salle sent two Frenchmen, and then two savages, to recon-
noitcr, who reported that there was a village (Qumipisas)
not far off, but that the whole of this marsh, covered with
canes, must be crossed to reach it ; that they had been as-
sailed with a shower of arrows by the inhabitants of the
town, who had not dared to engage with them in the marsh,
but who had then withdrawn, although neither the French
nor the savages with them had fired on account of the orders
they had received not to fire, unless in pressing danger.
Presently, we heard a drum beat in the village, and the
cries and bowlings with which these barbarians are ac-
customed to make attacks. We waited three or four hours,
and as we could not encamp In this marsh, and seeing
no one, and no longer hearing anything, we embarked,
an hour afterwards, to go to the village of Maheoula, *
lately destroyed, and containing dead bodies, and marks of
blood. Two leagues below this place we encamped. We
continued our voyage until the 6th, when we discovered three
channels, by which the River Colbert discharges itself into the
sea. We landed on the bank of the most western channel,
about three leagues from its mouth. On the /th, M. de la

* Probably the village of the Tangibao, which had been destioyed by the
Qmmpisas.

24 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [[682.

Salle * went to reconnoiter the shores of the neighboring
sea (Gulf of Mexico), and M. de Tonty likewise examined
the great middle channel. They found these three outlets
beautiful, large, and deep.

" On the 8th we reascended the river, a little above its
confluence with the sea, to find a dry place beyond the reach
of inundation. The elevation of the north pole was here
about 27. Here we prepared a column and a cross, and to
the said column were affixed the arms of France with this
inscription :

nfe p fettfl, w At Jvjwa tt At

; * Mtm*
ii, ma*

The whole party under arms chanted the Te Deitw, the
Exaudiat, the Domine Salvum fac Reg-cm; and then, after a
salute of fire-arms and cries of Vive Ic Rot, the column was
erected by M. de la Salle, who, standing near it, said with a
loud voice, m French : < In the name of the most high,
mi "ghty, invincible, and victorious Prince, LOUIS THE GRKAT,
by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre, four-
teenth of that name, this ninth day of April, one thousand
six hundred and eighty-two, I, in virtue of the commission
of his Majesty (Louis XIV.) which I hold in my hand, and

*"Sieur de la Salle," says Father Membie, "took the western, the Sieur
Dautmy the southern, and M de Tonty the middle channel. They found the
watei brackish, but aftei advancing two leagues into the gulf, it became perfectly
salt."

I6S2.] LOUISIANA AA~D FLORIDA 2$

winch may be seen by all whom it may concern, have taken,
and do now take in the name of his Majesty and of his suc-
cessors to the crown, possession of this country of Louisiana,
the seas, harbors, ports, bays, adjacent straits ; and all the
nations, people, provinces, cities, towns, villages, mines, min-
erals, fisheries, streams, and rivers comprised in the extent
of Louisiana, from the mouth of the great River St. Louis
on the eastern side, otherwise called Ohio, Alighmsipou (Al-
leghany), or Chickagoua, and this with the consent of the
Chouanons (Shawanoes),* Chicachas (Chickasaws), and other
people dwelling therein, with whom we have made alliance ;
as also along the River Colbert or Mississippi, and rivers
which discharge themselves therein, from its source ; be-
yond the country of the Kious (Sioux) or Nadouessions,
and this with their consent, and with the consent of the Mo-
tan tees, Illinois, Mesigameas (Metchigamias), Akansas, Nat-
ches, and Koroas, which are the most considerable nations f
dwelling therein, with whom also we have made alliance

* The Sbawanoes were a wandeung nation, and as eaily as 1660 occupied the
country on the Tennessee and Cuinbeiland Rivers, and after that emigrated to
the Wabash Rivei country The Chickasaws weie a poweiml, waihke nation,
and occupied the countiy within the piesent State*, of Kentucky and Tennessee

j "These tubes," says Fathei Zenobe Membre, " though savage, seem gen-
erally of very good disposition, affablej obliging, and docile They aie veiy
different from our Canada Indians in then houses, diess, manners, and customs,
and even in the form of their head, foi theirs is very flat They have laige
public squaies, games, and assemblies. They seem veiy Irvely and active, and
then chiefs possess all the authoiity They have their valets and officers, who
follow and seive them everywhere. They have also axes and guns, which thej
procure fiom the Spaniards sixty-five or more leagues off"

26 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1682.

either by ourselves or by others in our behalf; as far as the
mouth at the sea or Gulf of Mexico, about the 2/th degree
of the elevation of the north pole, and also to the mouth of
the river of Palms (Rio de P almas*) ; upon the assurance
which we have received from all these nations that we are
the first Europeans who have descended or ascended the
River Colbert, hereby protesting against all those who may
in future undertake to invade any or all of these countries,
people, or lands above described to the prejudice of the
right of his Majesty acquired by the consent of the nations
herein named, of which and all that can be needed, I hereby
take to witness those who hear me, and demand an act of
the notary as required by law.'

" To which the whole assembly responded with shouts of
Vive le Roi and with salutes of fire-arms. Moreover, the
said Sieur de la Salle caused to be buried at the foot of the
tree to which the cross was attached a leaden plate, on one
side of which- were engraved the arms of France and the fol-
lowing Latin inscription :

LVDOVICVS MAGNVS KEGNAT.
NONO APRILIS CIO IOC LXXXIL

ROBERTVS CAVELIER, CVM DOMINO DE TONTY, LEGATO
R P ZENOBIO MEMBRE, RECOLLECTO, ET VIG1NTI GAJLLI8,
PRIMVS HOC FLVMEN, INDE ABJLINEORVM PAGO, ENAVIGAVIT,
EJVSQUE OSTIVM FECIT PERVIVM, NONO APRILIS ANNI
CIO IOC LXXXIL

* The Rio cle Palmas is about one hundred leagues fiom the Rivei Panuco
(Tampico), Mexico.

l6S2.] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA 2J

" After which the Sieur de la Salle said that his Majesty,
as eldest Son of the Church, would annex no country to his
crown without making it his chief care to establish the Chris-
tian religion therein, and that its symbol must now be
planted, which was accordingly done at once by erecting a
cross, before which the Vcxilla and the Dominc Salvum fac
Rcgcm were sung, whereupon the ceremony was concluded
with cries of Vive leRoi. Of all and every of the above the
said Sicur de la Salle having required of us an instrument,
we have delivered to him the same signed by us, and by the
undersigned witnesses, this ninth day of April, one thousand

six hundred and eighty-two."

" LA METAIRIE,

Notary.
44 DE LA SALLE.

" P. ZENOBE, Recollect Missionary.
" HENRY DE TONTY.

" FRANCOIS DE BOISRONDET.

*

" JEAN BOURDON.

" S.IEUR D'AUTRAY.

" JAQUES CAUCHOIS.

" PIERRE You.

" GILLES MEUCRET.

" JEAN MICHEL, Surgeon.

"JEAN MAS.

" JEAN DULIGNON.

" NICOLAS DE LA SALLE/

:fiisto viral Sournnl ;

OR,

NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITIONS

MADE BY ORDER OF

HIS MAJESTY LOUIS XIV., KING OF FRANCE,

TO

COLONIZE LOUISIANA,

UNDER THE COMMAND OF

M, PIERRE LE MOYNE D'IBERVILLE, GOVERNOR GENERAL ;

INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF HIS

*olterf n Itaripgi Site, from its moaty 10 i\t
of % Jfl^&ttim rf % tontrg; anir of i\t
totmns of % f ttmermw IwJbi

Translated, and printed for the first time, from a copy of the original
manuscript deposited in the office of the "MimstSre de la Marine et de*
Colonies/' Pans.

of th faeMtion,

or

I. LA BADINE THIRTY GUNS, AND MANNED
WITH Two HUNDRED MEN ;

M. PIERRE LE MOYNE D'IBERVILLE, Commander ;

M. LESQUELET, Lieutenant,

M. BEAUHARNAIS, Ensign ;

M. RICOURD, Ensign;

M. J. B. LE MOYNE DE BIENVILLE, King's Lt. ;

M LE VASSEUR DE BOUSSOUELLE, Major;

M DE BORDENAUC, Chaplain,

II. LE MARIN THIRTY GUNS, AND MANNED WITH
Two HUNDRED MEN ;

M. LE COMTE DE SURG&RES, Commander;
M. DE SAUVOL DE LA VlLLANTRAY, Ensign ;
M. DES OURDYS, Ensign;
Father ANASTASIUS DoUAY, Chaplain,

III. LE PRECIEUX ;-

M. J. F. LE VASSEUR, Commander.

IV. LE BISCAYENNE ;-

M. F, GUYON, Commander.

Which was increased on his anival at St. Domingo, by order of the King,
with the Ship of War LE FRANCOIS, of 52 Guns, commanded by the
MARQUIS DE CHATEAUMORAND, and several tianspoits with troops and
provisions.

1698.]

LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA

OR,

NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION MADE BY ORDER OF LOUIS
XIV , KING OF FRANCE, UNDER COMMAND OF M. D'lBER-
VILLE, TO EXPLORE THE COLBERT (MISSISSIPPI) RIVER
AND ESTABLISH A COLONY IN LOUISIANA.

TRANSLATED AND PRINTED FOR THE FIRST TIME, FROM A COPY OF THE ORIG-
INAL MANUSCRIPT, DEPOSITED IN THE ARCHIVES OF THE
MINISTERS DE LA MARINE ET DES COLONIES, PARIS,

CHAPTER L

N Friday morning, October 24, 1698, we
weighed anchor in the port of Brest,
France. The frigate La Badine, com-
manded by M. PIERRE LE MOYNE D'L-
BERVILLE,* fired a signal gun, announc-
ing the departure of the expedition to
Louisiana. Upon passing the entrance to the harbor, we

* The illustnous PIERRE LE MOYNE D'IBERVILLE, first Royal Governor of
Louisiana, was the third of eleven sons of the brave CHARLES LE MOYNE,
Seigneur of Longueil, Lower Canada, all of whom distinguished themselves in
the wais of Fiance with England, Spam, and Holland. He was bom at Mont-
real, July 20, 1662, and at an eaily age entered the naval service of France.
4

32 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1698.

met a squadron of four ships of war, the Eclatant, the Oiseait,
the Dauphin, and the Hercules, commanded by ADMIRAL
DE COETLOGON, \vho sent his gig on board our flag-ship
Badine, which gave a salute of seven guns, and was returned
by five guns from the Eclatant* We steered west southwest
in order to escape the Bay-frotd ledge, and at five o'clock
we made Usfiant, where we took our first observation, and
found our latitude to be 48, 12"; 10, 40", west longitude.
In the morning we signaled eight ships of war steering

In 1685 he took pait in the expedition commanded by M DE TROVES
to Hudson Bay, and captmed Foits Rupeit, and Monsonis. In 1687, M
D'IBERVILLE \vas promoted to the rank of Captain of a ship of wai, and
ordered to Quebec On his way to that poit, he captured an English ship
of war, with the Bntish Goveinor and suite on boaid, and took them piis-
oners to Quebec In 1689, he was sent to take command of Fort St Ann,
which he nobly defended against the combined attack of a Bntish fleet and
repulsed, with large loss to the enemy He continued in command of this foit
for moie than a yeai, when he sailed for France with dispatches foi the govern-
ment, wheie he was graciously leceived by the King and Couit. In 1692, he
returned to Canada m command of a squadron, and captured Foit Nelson, a
strong foi tress which had been in the hands of the English since 1683 In this
attack he lost his gallant bi other, M DE CHATEAU QUAY, m leading an attack on
one of the bastions of the fort. In concert with M DE BRILLON, they aftei-
waida destioyed the foitiess and town of St. Johrfs^ Newfoundland. At the
close of the war with England and Holland, in 1697, and while m command of
the ship Pelican, of fifty guns, he fought one of the most unequal and decisive
battles in naval histoiy With a single ship, the Pelican, he was attacked
by three English ships of war. the Hampshire^ of fifty-two guns, which sui.-
rendered , the Hudson, of thirty-six guns, which he sunk ; and the ship Dehr-
^ng| of thuty-two guns, which he put to flight This biilhant victory closed his
naval caieer in Canada ; and secured to France, by the tieaty of JRy&iuickj all
the temtory, towns, and forts lying upon Hudson's Bay. He once more returned
to France, where he was created a Knight of St. Louis, and took this occa-
sion to urge upon the Court the necessity ot sending a fleet to the Gulf of Mex-

1698.] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 33

southwest, for the purpose of reconnoitering Cape Finistcrre.
On Wednesday, the 2gth, we hoisted our flag, and notified
our ships the Badine was leaking badly. On Tuesday, De-
cember 2d, we arrived in sight of the Island of St. Domingo^
and on the 4th, anchored at Cape Franqois, where we ex-
pected to find M. DU CASSE, the Governor, but who had gone
the day before to Port de Paix. On Friday, the 5th, we
dispatched M. DBS OURDYS to bring him back, and on the

ico to take possession, and plant a colony in Louisiana, which had been neglect-
ed since the death of LA SALLE , and to unite her with the magnificent country
of Louisiana, wheie it was important to establish in the Gulf a market for her
commerce, and a nmsery for hei navy He was accordingly appointed, in 1698,
to command a squadron, with the title of Governor-General, and to pioceed
immediately to Louisiana, and establish a colony there (See first seties Bist&ri-
cal Collections of Louisiana^ vol 3,//. 10-12^

On his aiuval in the Gulf of Mexico, he found the Spaniaids already in pos-
session of JPensacola, and, having no authority to drive them out, he continued
his voyage along the coast to the west, and took possession of some islands in
Mobile Bay, where he landed his troops, and went in search of the Colbeit or
Mississippi liver, which he ascended as far as the Natclies, and on his return
he ordered a fort to be built (La Boulaye) on the left bank of the river, about
thirty leagues above its mouth. He afterwards made several voyages to France
foi colonists and provisions, until the war broke out between France, Spain,
and England, when he was recalled to France, and appointed the commander of
a fleet to attack the English towns on the Atlantic coast, leaving the colony to
protect itself The expedition did not, however, set sail immediately, on account
of his sickness, and it was not until the spring of 1706 that he leached St Do-
mingo , and when about to set sail for CJiarkston, he was attacked with yellow
fever, which, after a short illness, put an end to his life, on the gthof July, 1706,
in the forty-fouith yeai of his age, leaving a wife and grateful country to mourn
his loss This brave and accomplished officer was the contemporary of JE\N
BART, DE TOURVILLE, D'ESTREE, CofcTLOGON, and DUGAI TROUIN, who contrib-
uted with him their share to the glory of France, and the long and brilliant
reign of Louis XIV.

34 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1698.

loth, he returned and reported that the Governor was sick.
On Thursday, the nth, we perceived the flag-ship of war, Lc
Francois, commanded by the MARQUIS DE CliATEAUMORAND,
who sent his officer on board of our flag-ship. On Friday,
the pilot of the Badinc brought the Lc Francois into harbor,
accompanied by the Badine, and safely anchored us in Port
dePaix. On Sunday, the I4th, M. LE COMTE DE SURGfiRES,
MM. L'ESQUELET, and SAUVOL DE LA VILLANTRAY called
on and were politely received by the Governor, who tendered
us his services. He wrote immediately to the commander
at the Cape, to furnish M. D'lBERViLLE with all the provis-
ions he was in need of, and to M. LAURENT DE GRAFF* to
embark on board the flag-ship of the MARQUIS DE CliATEAU-
MORAND, at Lcogane, as M. DE GRAFF was thoroughly ac-
quainted with the coast.

He also wrote M. DE CHATEAUMORAND to visit him as soon
as possible, that he might have an understanding with him.

*Capt LAURENT DE GRAFF was an associate of MM. DE GRAMMONT, D&
L'OLONOIS, MONTAUBAN, and MORGAN, and all of that band of coi&ahs, whose
rendezvous was on the Toitugas, St Domingo, and othei West India islands ; and
who desolated the coasts of New Spain foi moie than a centuiy He tendered his
name famous by the capture of Veia Cruz, in 1683, which placed him in posses-
sion of seven or eight millions of dollars of property. He was prompt, biave,
and determined , and to resolve was to undertake and execute at the same time.
He was perfectly acquainted with the Spanish mode of fighting, and distin-
guished himself among the bravest men of that day. Speaking the French, Span-
fsh, and other languages, with gieat fluency, he was employed to accompany this
expedition, as he was well acquainted with eveiy port in the Gulf of Mexico
After M. D'IBERVILLE took possession of Louisiana, he relumed with the MAR-
QUIS DE CHATEAUMORAND to St Dommgo.

1698.] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 35

On the 1 6th, M. DU CASSE came on board, and we set sail
for Lcoganc. On Friday, the igth, at nine o'clock, we
arrived there. The principal inhabitants along the coast
came on board to pay their respects to M. DU CASSE,
the new Governor. At two o'clock he left us, and we gave
him a salute of nine guns. He gave orders to supply the
fleet with fresh bread and meat twice a day. Our officers
were then invited to his house, where the plan of the voyage
to Louisiana was discussed.

Whilst the Badine was waiting for supplies at the Cape,
the heat, fruits, and debauchery produced a good deal of
sickness on board. On Tuesday, the 23d, M. LE CLERC, the
King's notary, dying on shore, the holy sacrament was admin-
istered to him. On Thursday, the 25th, the flag-ship Lc Fran-
gozs, commanded by M DE CHATEAUMORAND, and the flag-
ship La Badine, of M. D'IBERVILLE, with her tenders, arrived,
and anchored the same evening. The officers of this ship
supped on board the Lc Mann, commanded by M. LE
COMTE DE SuRGfcRES. He informed us that M. BERTHIER,
Commissary of our squadron, died at the Cape on the i/th.
They brought with them M. LAURENT DE GRAFF, who was
to accompany us ; and he also Informed us that the English
had sent two ships to establish a colony on the Mississippi*

On the first of January, 1699, we set sail, so as to reach

* This expedition was sent out by DANIEL Cox, under the patent originally
granted by CHARLES I., to Sir ROBERT HEATH, and whose frigates entered the
Mississippi river in 1699, but were turned back by M. DE BIEKVILLE. (Histori-
cal Collections of Louisiana, vol. 2, pp 223-5, and vol. 3, pp. 16, 17 )

3^ HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

the other ships which were in advance of us. At six

o'clock, the Le Francois fired a gun across the
A D. 1699.

little Goave, to notify an officer who had gone

there on a visit. He arrived at nine o'clock. M. D'lBER-
VILLE then sent the gun-boat ( Biscay ennc ) to Hippc, to no-
tify the small cruisers to procure a supply of refreshments.
At five o'clock the Badine fired a gun to recall the gun-boat
and cruisers. We continued to hoist but little sail on the
Francois. At 'nine o'clock, the long-boat (Travcrsicr) re-
sponded to the signal ; at ten o'clock we put the ship on the
starboard tack, hoisted three lights, and fired a gun to notify
the Francois that the Badtnc would lie to, off Hippc, * until
morning. Finding ourselves too close to Point Caymitc, we
hoisted our mizzen and top-sails, to clear the land.

On Friday, the 2d of January, 1699, the Badine remained
to the eastward in sight of us. As for the Francois we could
see nothing of her. On the 3d, 4th, and 5th, we coasted
along the island of St. Domingo and a part of Cuba, and on
Friday, the 9th, we came in sight of the Little Cayman, and
on Tuesday, the I4th, we passed Cape St. Antonio. On
Thursday, the 22d, we sounded, but found no bottom. In
the evening, having sounded again, we found one hundred and
seventy fathoms. On Friday, the 23d, the soundings gave us
sixty fathoms, at two o'clock, forty fathoms, and at four
o'clock, thirty fathoms. At five o'clock the Badine hoisted
a flag as a signal to cast anchor. We could barely see the

*A rich district of country six leagues to the west of Petit Goitave, St Do-
mingo

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA 37

land, which appeared low and about six leagues off. We
ranged alongside the Badine, which called out to us to make
sail and reconnoiter the land, which we did. We afterwards
came to anchor in thirty fathoms of water and saw a fire
bearing N. N. W., which continued to burn all night, hav-
ing been kindled by the Florida Indians. The latitude was
29 57' north.

On Saturday, the 24th, at six o'clock in the morning, we
neared the land, the wind being in a N. E. direction, and ran
down upon the tender, which was to windward of us about
three leagues. The Francois and Badine both approached
nearer in order to reconnoiter the land. At ten o'clock we
signaled the long-boat or tender, and steered N. J^ N. W.
to join the other vessels. At the depth of thirty fathoms the
lead brought up gray sand. An hour after we found twenty-
two fathoms at a distance of about three leagues from land ;
we ranged along the coast until sundown, when we anchored
in eighteen fathoms.

On Sunday morning, the 25th, at seven o'clock, we
weighed anchor, with the wind to the eastward, which held
us under close sail. The gun-boat approached the land for
the purpose of reconnoitering a cape, within which we
observed a river, but did not discover the entrance. We
continued on to the westward, sounded and found twelve
fathoms, with hard bottom. We discovered a low flat
country' extending from N. E. to W. S. W., a distance of
fifteen leagues. The coast consisted of a fine white sand.
At ten o'clock we discovered a large lake that extended to

3 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

westward, the other side of which appeared to be covered
with lofty forest trees. The wind was generally from the
coast and beautiful weather. The two long-boats coasted
along within musket shot of the shore, where they found
uniformly five fathoms of water. At six o'clock in the even-
ing we anchored In twelve fathoms of water, fine sandy bot-
tom. The wind continued all night from the coast with a
slight haze. The tide flowed westwardly, but in the port it
flowed north and south. The coast runs east and west. On
Monday, the 26th, we continued the same route from the
east, with a slight fog. At nine o'clock we saw a low cape
to the west, and in a pass within we saw two ships.
An hour after the Francois, in approaching, fired five
guns as a signal to anchor in ten fathoms of water. We
replied to this signal by several volleys of musketry, at the
same time notifying the long-boats not to lose sight of us
in the fog. The two ships we had seen fired two guns and
sent off a long-boat to reconnoiter us. Having approached
within a half league of us, they returned when we hoisted
our flag. All night the winds blew from the east, weather
good, and the thick haze continuing.

1699.]

LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA.

39

CHAPTER II.

ilN Tuesday, the 27th, M. DE L'ESQUELET,
lieutenant of the Badine, went to re-
connoiter the two frigates, which he
discovered were Spanish ; the one
mounting eighteen, the other twenty
guns. They had been engaged in estab-
lishing a colony here (Pensacola), for the space of four months.
The commander, DON ANDRES DE ARRIOLA, received our
officer very politely ', who told him that the King had heard that
some five or six hundred Canadians had descended for the pur-
pose of taking possession of the wines, and that we were sent to
arrest them. That we had captured the two gun-boats, who
were pirates, and that he had learned there was another in
these seas carrying fifty or sixty guns, the Franois, that joined
us at St. Domingo. We were in want of wood and water ^ but in
order to obtain it, we must enter the river. The commander
replied that he had orders to permit no one to enter the river.
Nevertheless, he permitted M. L'ESQUELET to enter, and
sent his major on board of us in a long-boat, whom we
saluted with three guns. The Spaniards have erected a stock-

4 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

ade fort hcre^ and have about three Jmndred men, with two
Augustine and two Recollect monks. M. L'ESQUELET and
the major arrived on board the Francois about two o'clock,
with presents for the MARQUIS DE CHATEAUMORAND, who
had sent on shore several demijohns of wine.

On Wednesday, the 28th, we went with our three ships
and canoes to sound the entrance of the bay, called by the
Spaniards Santa-Maria-de-Galvez-de-Pensacola* We found
it a beautiful harbor ; the shallowest water found, according
to the report of MM. D'lBERViLLE and DE SURGfeRES, who
visited it, themselves, was twenty feet. About noon the
captain of one of the Spanish frigates came in a boat with
orders for us not to enter. We had already weighed anchor,
which we let fall again. The captain informed us that we
could only be permitted to anchor in front of the river,
where wood and water would be brought to us. It was
apparent that their sailors had learned from ours that we
were visiting this coast for the purpose of forming a colony.
Our officers thought it prudent to go no farther. This is
certainly a most beautiful port, equal at least to that of
Brest, and has been lost to us by delay. There arc masts
enough in this bay to supply the whole marine of France.
At six o'clock we hoisted our felucca on board, regretting
the necessity of quitting such a beautiful place.

On Thursday, the 2gth, weather calm, continued haze,

* The name of this Bay is sometimes written D' Ychuse, Achuse, and Ochuse.
It was discovered by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century and was named
Filipma by GUIDO DE LAS BAZARES. It was also called by the Indians, Ochus.

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 41

and variable winds which hindered us from making much
headway. On Friday, the 3Oth, we made sail at seven
o'clock in the morning, with wind E. N. E., to reconnoiter
the Bay of Mobile. We approached the land within three
leagues, which was made S. W. J/ W. and W. S. W. ; four
o'clock, steered S. W., finding but five fathoms of water.
The Frangois also signaled us that she found but five fath-
oms. She held the wind in order to have more sea-room.
Some time after she rallied upon us. We anchored at six
o'clock in nine fathoms bottom of fine sand.

On Saturday, the 3 1st, steered W. j N. W. At noon, we
perceived a strong tide current running out from the Bay of
Mobile, and placed our vessels across it, supposing that there
must be deep water, and we sent our shallops to make
soundings ; they found but eight fathoms. Afterwards we
made use of their services when we had passed over the
current. At ten o'clock we anchored in ten fathoms of water,
hard bottom. M. SAUVOL DE LA VILLANTRAY, and a pilot,
were detached with two long-boats to make the soundings
in the Bay of Mobile. At six o'clock the larger of the long-
boats grounded, the tide having cast her on a sand-bank.
She fired several guns, but we only saw the flash of them.
After a short time she was hauled off*. The wind was all
night fresh from the S. E., and two hours after daylight, we
sailed to the S. S. W., the rain pouring down in torrents.
We could not come about to the wind, although the breeze
was very fresh, by reason of the strong currents, which bore
to the S. E.

42 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

On Sunday, February the 1st, our felucca having returned
from making its reconnaissance, said they found no water,
according to the report made by M. DE L'ESQUELET. Never-
theless, when this gentleman arrived on board, he stated
that he found five fathoms, which caused M. D'lBERViLLE
to go himself and make an examination m company with M.
DE SAUVOL. The two long-boats were obliged to come to
anchor on account of the strong currents and south-westerly
winds, which drove them towards shore. We weighed
anchor and hoisted our two topsails, in order to clear a reef,
which extended from the main land, over which the seas
were breaking ; within was a small island, lying east and
west from the cape, making out from the Bay of Mobile.
There are two other islets farther in, and about three leagues
distant from the main land. During the twenty-four hours
the winds have been variable, with heavy rain and fog, with
a prospect of bad weather. On Monday, the 2cl, the wind
continued east, with constant rain. At midnight the wind
veered to the west, when we payed out more cable. On
Tuesday, the $d, the wind continued westward, with foul
weather, rough sea, and cold. Towards noon the weather
moderated, and by evening the wind changed to the north-
west, in which direction it continued all night. On Wed-
nesday, the 4th, brisk wind N. N. W. At eleven o clock, M.
D'lBERViLLE came on board. He had been absent since
Sunday, and was unable to reach the shipping on account
of the boisterous weather. He reported but twelve feet of
water in the pass, which is tortuous ; but within he found

1699-] LOUISIANA AXD FLOltlDA 43

five fathoms. He saw a large lake, into which a river emptied.
The tide ebbed and flowed therein. The tides flowed N. \V.
by S. W. The river ran with such rapid current that its
waters were charged with sediment. They brought down
large pine trees of a size admirably adapted for masts. Our
men killed several water-fowls, and found some Indian
cabins. Upon one of the islands they also found a stranded
pirogue, several earthen pots, and a large quantity of human
bones, the result, probably, of some battle foiight tliere* The
Indians, who visit this coast, belong to wandering tribes.
When they are satiated with flesh, they come to the sea-
shore for fish, which is there found in abundance. Our
people caught some that weighed at least twenty pounds.

At one o'clock P. M., the Badine hoisted the Dutch flag
as a signal for us to get under way. We raised our light
anchor, which we had cast to the S. E., for fear of entangling
the larger one, and by two o'clock were under full sail with a
brisk breeze from the north, and a clear sky. We steered W.
J^ S. W. ; at four o'clock the wind continuing W. S. W.,
we bore closer on, and steered north. At sundown, we
noticed the variation of the compass, which was one degree.
At six o'clock we anchored in fourteen fathoms, bottom
sandy mud. At three o'clock A. M., we took the height of
the polar star, the hour at which it passes its meridian above
the pole. We were at this time about three leagues west-
ward of the bay of Mobile, ajl the while the wind blowing
briskly from the north, with weather clear and cold.

The bay, called "Mobile" (Mauvila] by the Spaniards^ is,

44 * HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ l6 99-

according to our observations, situated in latitude 30 north,
and longitude 283 26' west. On Thursday, the 5th, we
weighed anchor, and with a light northerly wind, we steered
W.J^ S. W., and at noon we took the meridian and found 29
50'. At six o'clock, the look-out at mast-head discovered sev-
eral islands* in the bay of Mobile. On Friday, the 6th, in the
morning, the long-boat of the Badine was sent out to recon-
noiter a pass which was seen between the islands mentioned,
and the main land. The Francois and long-boats made sail
to join us. At nine o'clock we came to anchor, wind north,
and the cape bearing W. N. W. At four o'clock we steered
W. S. W. to keep away from shore. At sundown the point
of the island bore N. N. W. at a distance of four leagues.
We came to anchor at six o'clock in eleven fathoms of
water, bottom muddy sand. The gun-boat touched upon
the island with the intention of reconnoitering other islands
in the morning, beyond which we desired to find anchorage.
This island we speak of, is in latitude 30 and longitude 282
34'. On the /th, we weighed anchor, steering W. S. W., fine
weather, but made no discoveries. On Sunday, the 8th,
M. DE SURGfeRES went in the felucca to examine an island
lying to the N. W., and the long boat went to sound a pass
W. N. W. On Monday, the 9th, we weighed anchor, xvind "
to the east, and hoisted our main and mizzen topsails to

* These islands were afterwards named by M. D'IBERVILLE, Dauphin, Horn
and Dog Island; the first (Dauphin} became the seat of the French colony
after its removal fiom Biloxi, in 1702.

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. . 45

reach the anchorage to the south of an Island, where one of
the long-boats had gone to take soundings for us. At noon
we came to anchor in seven fathom of water, muddy bottom,
one league and a half south of the island. On Tuesday, the
loth, wind east, slight breeze, went to an anchorage north of
the island discovered by M. DE SURG&RES* the day before.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the weather was nearly the
same, with a cold north wind. On Friday, the 1 3th, M.
D'IBERVILLE, having seen the Indians kindling fires upon
the larger island three leagues to the north, took 1 with him
Father ANASTASIUSf to make them a visit. They landed
tn a gun-boat and a bark-canoe, in which the Canadians had
descended the Mississippi. We landed at two o'clock P.M.,
and saw the tracks of the Indians who had left since morn-
ing, and tented here.

On Saturday, the I4th, having breakfasted, we marched
along the shore. M. D'IBERVILLE and his Indian guide at
the same time perceived the tracks of two savages who had

* Afterwards called " Surgfres" but is now " Ship Island" and about nine
miles fiom Mississippi City In the report of M. HUBERT on Ptnsacofa, Mobile^
and Dauphin Island in 1721, he recommends " Skip Island" as the best harbor
on the coast of Louisiana, and the best harbor for a naval station and ships of
\vai.

f Father ANASTASIUS DOUAY RECOLLECT we know but little of his history
previoub to his coming to Louisiana \\ithM DE LA SALLE in 1684, and who re-
turned to France with M. JOUTEL, the historian of that expedition, after the
tiagical death of Sieur DE LA SALLE Father DOUAY returned to Louisiana in
the expedition with M. D'!BERVILLE, in 1698, and wrote an account of the
attempt made by LA SALLE to reach the Mississippi in 1684, (See Historical
Collections of Louisiana, first series^ vol. 1, -&p. 85193.)

46 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

come from their hiding-place. He returned to our fire, took
two hatchets, four knives, some beads, vermilion, and two
pipes filled with tobacco, as presents, and to show them that
our intentions were peaceable. The shallops and bark kept
along the shore, while M. D'lBERViLLE, his Indian guide,
and Father ANASTASIUS walked on foot. At some distance
they saw three Indians who took flight in their canoes ; see-
ing which M. D'lBERViLLE also took to his canoe and forced
them on shore. Two made good their escape, but the third,
who was^old and sickly, fell into his hands. Presents were
given to him, and he was made to understand that our
mission was friendly and not warlike. The Indian appeared
to comprehend and be well satisfied. M. D'lBERViLLE
added that he was going to tent a short distance from this
spot ; he made a sign for us to go on shore and kindle a fire
for him, which we did with pleasure. His thigh was badly
diseased. Some of our men who had gone- out to hunt,
surprised an old woman who had concealed herself. They
conducted her to the old man where we were. She was
nearly frightened to death. We gave her some presents, and
she saw how well we treated the old man, who promised that
so soon as his people returned he would make them pull
some Indian corn for us. We left them together and returned
to our cabin. The old woman visited the Indians that same
evening and told them all that had happened.

On Sunday morning, the I5th, M. D'lBERViLLE and
Father ANASTASIUS went again to visit the old man ; but
unfortunately the fire having caught to the dry grass near

1699-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 47

him, he found it difficult to remove himself. We laid the
poor creature upon a bear's skin, where he expired within a
half hour, before, our eyes. Hearing the others approaching
us with songs we waited for them some time, but through
fear, they would not come near us. We then returned to
our cabin. At 6 o'clock they encountered our hunters, who
gained their confidence so far as to get their consent to come
with them. They came dancing and singing, holding in
their hands a large club, which appeared to be an instrument
of war. We embraced them after their manner, by rubbing
their stomach ; after which we gave them pipes and presents
of every description. Then M. D'lBERVlLLE sent for the
large brass kettle, that we might dine together. Two old
women pulled the ears of corn to feast us in return. They
called us their allies, and taught us some words of their
language, after which we returned to our cabin.
5

HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

[1699.

CHAPTER K*.

N Monday, the i6th, the shallop kept
along shore, whilst M. D'IBERVILLE, his
brother, DE BIENVILLE, Father ANA-
STASIUS, and some others, went to visit
their cabins, which our men' had dis-
covered the day before. We crossed some difficult marshes,
and two of our men, v^ho were in advance, fired their pistols
to notify us that we were approaching their cabins, which
we entered in a short time thereafter. We made presents
to such of them as had not yet received any. They pro-
posed to accompany us in the shallop and to leave with
them three of our men, which was agreed to. M. D'IBER-
VILLE left among them his brother BIENVILLE, and took
with him three Indians. We arrived on board the ships at
three o'clock in the afternoon, when, having feasted them
and made them considerable presents, they went to rest.
On Tuesday, the i/th, we showed them the various ma-
noeuvres of our vessels and of the guns. We even fired
round shot. They could not comprehend the scene before
them, but were filled with astonishment.

The next day M. D'IBERVILLE reconducted them to their

1699-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA. 49

cabins. There was a pleasant breeze from the south, and
when he arrived at the shore all the savages were assembled
waiting to receive and smoke the calumet with him. He
made them additional presents, and passed the whole of
Wednesday, the iSth, with them. These Indians told M.
D'lBERVILLE that they detested the Spaniards, and promised
him that they .and their allies, the Oumas and Tangibaos,
with whom our people became acquainted afterward, in de-
scending the Mississippi, would accompany him. They pro-
posed to go on a hunt for the purpose of supplying us with
game for a grand feast ; that buffaloes,* deer, and wild tur-
keys were abundant about ten leagues distant, and in three
days they would return, when they would kindle a large fire
as a signal, which should be answered by us with three
guns. *

On the iQth M. D'lBERVILLE returned on board and re-
lated what transpired, as before mentioned, at which we were
greatly rejoiced. The object which most astonished them
was the spy-glass. They could not comprehend how we
could see distinctly objects so far distant from each other.
Brandy, which was set on fire, and which we afterward
drank, appeared to them a thing no less extraordinary.
They promised, after the feast, to go with us to the Missis-
sippi. They said the first time we had fired our gun they
heard us, and came down- to the* sea-shore ; and added that

* For more than a century past the American buffalo (Bos Americanos) has
not been seen east of the Mississippi river, and is now only to be found m
the Far West, where they are also fast disappearing in certain localities

SO HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [^99.

they were at war with the Qiiinnipissas, who dwelt about
twenty-five leagues up the Mississippi, and they knew that
M. DE LA SALLE had fought against them.

On Saturday, the 2ist February, the Marquis of CHA-
TEAUMORAND set sail for St. Domingo^ At noon we saw
the fire in the place indicated by the Indians, and so soon

f Extract from a letter written by an officer on board the squadron com-
manded by the Marquis DE CHATEAUMORAND, dated St Domingo, Apul i,
1699, addressed to a friend in Pans

" The commandei of this squadron, the Marquis DE CHATEAUMORAND, re-
ceived orders several months ago fiom the King, thiough M DE COSSE, gover-
nor of this island, to join the squadron of M. D'lBERViLLR as soon as he ai rived
at St. Domingo, in order to execute conjointly with him the sealed insti actions
of the Court, but not to be opened until after they had left St Domingo , as the
object of the expedition was not to be known until after the entiance of the
mouth of the Mississippi, which the late Sieui DE LA SALLE, from Canada, had
discovered in 1682, and which he had subsequently failed to find thiee yeais
later, when he was authonzed by the King to establish a settlement on the banks
of the Mississippi (Colbeit). It was with the view of carrying out the plans
of the King and Court that M. D'!BERVILLE, a (Canadian) naval officei of dis-
tinction, originally from Normandy, touched at St. Domingo several months ago

** Dispatches have, fortunately, since arnved by a couiier, in advance, that
M, D'IBERVILLE has entered the mouth of the Mississippi, but before he as-
cended it he found the Spaniards had already taken possession of Pensacola,
and fortified themselves in two toweis or forts, and planted posts on which then
flags could be seen at a great distance. Our commander wished to oubt them,
but as the forces were nearly equal, and any contest between the two nations
must have icsulted disadvantageous to our pretensions, as the law of primo occu-
panti (the first occupant) must prevail, the Spanish and French commanders
came to an amicable agreement that each should settle a colony where they
pleased, and build forts for the piotection, of colonists.

" M D'IBERVILLE and the Marquis DE CHATEAUMORAND will report, on then
arrival in Fiance, an account of their successful expedition to the King and
Couit, which has given much satisfaction here "

1699-] LOUISIANA A^"D FLORIDA. 51

as M. D'lBERVILLE had dined on board the Marin^ he or-
dered three guns to be fired, and toward evening, the long-
boats being in readiness, two additional guns were fired as a
signal for landing. On Sunday, the 22d, M. D'lBERVILLE,
M. L'ESQUELET, lieutenant of the Badine, and all the Cana-
dians belonging to his corps ; M. DE SURGiRES, M. DE
SAUVOL, ensign of the Marin* with the Canadians of his
party, departed at seven o'clock for the feast, with the wind
east. On Monday, 23d, and Tuesday, 24th, the wind blew
strongly from the north, which prevented the Indians from
visiting us as was expected.

On Wednesday, 25th, M. DE SUROfcRES, M. L'ESQUELET,
and M. DE SAUVOL DE VlLLANTRAY returned at four
o'clock, M. D'lBERVILLE having remained to wait for the
savages, who had just arrived. The two feluccas were pre-
pared for the purpose of starting on an exploring expedition
to the Pascagoula river in the morning, and were provis-
ioned for ten or twelve days. MM. DE SAUVOL DE LA VlL-
LANTRAY arid DES OURDYS, ensigns, and CHATEAU, pilot,
formed a part of the expedition, and sounding around our
ships, where we found from seventeen feet to five fathoms of
water.

On Thursday, the 26th, the expedition took Its course for
the river (Pascagoula)^ which was eastward of our ships.
They first went on shore to receive orders from M. D'lBER-
VILLE. The river they visited is situated ten leagues E. by
N. E. of the island where we were anchored. They found to
the N. E. of this an island which extended S. E. and N. W

$2 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF {.^99-

one league, inside of which there were three fathoms of
water, where the ships could enter secure against all winds.
An excellent place was also found where supplies of wood
and water could be obtained, at a distance of about two
leagues from the mainland. From this place to the river the
water is very shallow. The mouths of the river were about
a league apart. It divides into four branches, which form
two islets at the outlets. M. D'IBERVILLE returned from
shore, where he had remained for some time, hoping to
meet with some Indians who could give him information
relative to the Mississippi river.

On Friday, the 27th, M. D'IBERVILLE, with his brother,
M. DE BlENVlLLE, and twenty men embarked in one of the
long-boats. M. DE SAUVOL DE LA ViLLANTRAY, lieutenant
of the Marin, with Father ANASTASIUS, the Recollect,
CHATEAU, the pilot, and twenty men, embarked in the
other ; making all together a force of fifty-one men, part Ca-
nadians, part filibusters whom we had taken on board at St.
Domingo, and who were to remain in case we found a suit-
able place for a settlement. We were provisioned for
twenty days, and were armed with guns, pistols, sabers,
swords, bayonets, and two swivels in each long-boat, to de-
fend ourselves against any insult the natives might offer in
the course of our discoveries.

At nine o'clock the same day, at a given signal, we set
sail, attended each by a bark canoe. Wind strong from the
S. E., weather cloudy ; sailed S. W. % W. during our mari-
time watch (korloge), afterward, the wind hauling south, S. E.,

1699-} LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 53

in order to pass clear of an island lying two leagues west
of where we were anchored. To the south of this island we
found deep water, with a rough sea. Continuing our route
S. W., we found four small islands, composed of sand, lying
close together, extending north and south. We sounded
around them for the space of a quarter of a league, and
found scarcely two feet of water. The sea was very beauti-
ful there ; a strong wind was blowing, but we were secured
from exposure by larger islands. The wind changing sud-
denly to the N. E., we steered to the south, and struck bot-
tom near a small island where there were but two and a half
feet of water. Two leagues from this islet we discovered a
bay, the land running E. S. E., formed by several islands
covered by the sea in stormy weather ; thence passing
three leagues from S. W. to S. S. W., to avoid a cluster of
islands lying in our route. At five o'clock we landed on the
point of one of the islands, where we encamped, but could
find no fresh water.

On Saturday, the 2gth, we embarked again in a thick fog,
which soon cleared off. We were obliged to deviate several
times from the direct course in order to avoid the sand
islands in oiu way. We landed at a large island covered by
tide-water, where we found a great quantity of 'oysters,
which are not of so good a quality as those of Europe, the
water being brackish among these islands (Cliandeleur) by
reason of their contiguity to the mouth of the river, whose
waters expand to a considerable distance during the months
of April and May. We remained here an hour, and, not

54 HISTORICAL COLLECTION'S OF

finding a passage, we retraced our steps, and on going out
of this bay we steered S. E. for some distance along what
appeared to be the mainland in two branches, the one extend-
ing S. E., the other N. W. Between these appeared to be a
lake. To the S. E. of the island appeared a small lake,
which we desired to cross, thinking to abridge our journey,
but we found the water too shallow, which obliged us to
take our original course. At the same point was a small
islet at the distance of a musket-shot We passed between
the two. After doubling this point the land was continually
in view, which consisted of low islands and trembling prai-
ries, covered by the sea at high tides. Steering S. S. W.,
wind south, we saw a pass between two small islands,
through which we entered, and encamped at four o'clock i>. M.
At five o'clock a storm arose from the N. W., accompanied
by thunder and lightning, with a heavy rain which continued
during the whole night. We fixed our sails to collect the
rain-water, for we had none with us, and could find none on
the island.

On Sunday, the ist of March, the bad weather and rain
continued until noon, when the wind chopped around to the
W. N. W.,with lowering clouds and light breezes. In the
morning M. D'lBERViLLE had a quantity of the branches of
the small trees that grew upon the island cut to place in our
camps, which were covered with water, and which kept us
standing during the whole night. We killed several wild cats
upon this island,* and remained there until Monday morning.

* Afterward called Cat Island^ which name it still retains.

LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA.

5S

CHAPTER IV.

N Monday, at one o'clock, we set sail with
a strong north wind. We made several
efforts to get out of the labyrinth of
islands (the Chandeleur) by which we
were surrounded. After doubling a point
where our vessels struck the bottom, we saw the mainland,
extending S. S. E., and coasted along the whole distance.
The seas ran so high that we were obliged to fix up tarred
canvas on the gunwales about a foot in height to prevent
the water from breaking over into the boats. We drew
nearer the land for fear of missing the riven We sailed
closer to the wind and took in our large sail, to avoid being
driven ashore, which the wind was blowing us dead on to.
After beating about in the seas for two hours, and fearing
the waves would fill the bark canoes, M. D'lBERVILLE made
us run before the wind, with the intention of stranding the
smaller vessels, so that we might return to the ships, since
we could accomplish nothing by this route, the land being
entirely inundated and filled with lagoons.

At-this moment we perceived a pass between two banks,
which appeared like islands. We saw that the water had

56 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1699.

changed ; tasted, and found it fresh, a circumstance that gave
us great consolation in that moment of consternation. Soon
after we beheld the thick, muddy water. As we advanced,
we saw the passes of the river, three in number, and the cur-
rent of the stream was such that we could not ascend it

without difficulty, although the wind was fair and favorable.

Upon entering between che two mud banks, we saw a breaker

in the middle of the pass, upon which we feared being lost,
as it was with difficulty we could double it, for we observed,
when too late, that the breaker lay N. E. and S. W. between
the mud banks, which are larger upon the lower side of the
entrance of the river. The entrance of the Mississippi*
runs S. E. and W. N. W., and may be about a quarter of a
league wide at its estuary.

*The icpoit or memoir made to the French government in 1725, on Louis-
iana, states that the St. Louis or Mississippi nver throws itself into the .sea by
five mouths (a gain of two mouths in twenty-Jive years), thus enumeiated :
Eastern Pass Southeast Pass, South Pass, Southwest Pass, and the Belize (on
which a fort was built), but the South Pass was the only one used ; and on the
bar of the lattei, there was only from twelve to thuleen feet of watet Besides
these passes, the river thiows its waters thiough smaller outlets, called bayous
or cieeks. The engineer lecommended the government to close up thiec of the
passes, and the bayous, with three 01 four rows c&pilohs placed close to each othei
at a distance of one hundied and fifty to two hundred toises fiom the mouth of
the Mississippi to the pass, so that the interval would seive as a bed for the
drift wood, which, being soon stopped, would soon be covered with the deposit
of the alluvion from the the nvex banks, and mcrea&e the depth of the chajnnel
by the increased velocity of its cuirent. At the same time it recommended the
cultivation of the sugarcane, nee, indigo, and tobacco, and a more extensive
emigiation of negroes for the plantations, which could not be woiked without
them on account of the heat of the climate.

1699-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 57

The coast consists of nothing more than two narrow strips
of land, about a musket shot in width, having the sea on
both sides of the river, which flows between these two strips
of land, and frequently overflows them. At four o'clock, after
having ascended the river one league and a half, we landed
in a thick cane-brake,* which grows so tall and thick on both
banks of the river, that it is difficult to see across, and it is
impossible to pass through without cutting it down. Beyond
the canes are impenetrable marshes. The banks are also
bordered by trees of jprodigious height, which the current of
the river draws down to the sea, with their roots and branches.

We found twelve feet of water at the pass, and within
from twelve to fifteen fathoms. On Tuesday, the 3d, mass
was performed, and a Te Deum sung in gratitude for our dis-
covery of the entrance of the Mississippi river ; f after which
we made a light breakfast, wishing to be sparing of our pro-
visions, which consisted of two casks of biscuit, a small quan-
tity of peas, and a quarter of flour for each long-boat. We
set sail with a wind E. N. E. At a quarter of a league from
our encampment, we found a large arm of water, which ran
N. N. E., and broke over everywhere. At nine o'clock, we
were dismasted in a squall, in crossing the spot where there

* The canes, or reeds, of Louisiana, are of two sorts. What is found in
marshy places, the natives (women) worked very neatly into hats, baskets, mats,
sieves, and other things , and those found on high, dry ground, being very hard,
were generally used in building huts, and knives to cut their meats. A large
traffic was carried on by the Indians in these articles in the Southern States.

f About seventeen years after DE LA SALLE had explored it to its mouth.

58 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1699.

were two other bodies of water, the one running S. E., the other
S. W., which are close to each other, and not more than
three leagues from the entrance to the sea. We landed as
soon as possible to adjust our masts, and found there an
abundance of blackberries, nearly ripe, and a few trees, of
middle height. The banks of the river ran W. N. W. At
five leagues from the mouth, it is not more than musket-shot
wide. There are bushes on each side, especially on the star-
board side ; as you ascend, ( the banks appear more and more
submerged, the land being scarcely visible. We saw a great
quantity of wild game, such as ducks, geese, snipe, teal, bus-
tards, and other birds. We also saw a Mexican wolf, and a
species of rat which carried its young in a sack under its
belly.*

Between five and six o'clock we landed and encamped ;
some of our men went hunting and found a variety of
animals, as stags, deer, buffaloes, and a very fine country.
The wind continued all day E. N, E., pretty fresh, and
somewhat cold. We made eight leagues, having been greatly
aided by our sails. We must have been ten leagues from the
entrance of the river. The Canadians and filibusters who
came with us, stood guard all night, alternately, with the
sailors. On the 4th, being Ash Wednesday, religious cere-
monies were performed by every one, then Mass was said, and

* The Pouched rat (Pseudostoma Bursarium) is still but little known, and is
so entirely subterranean that it is not surprising* It is only occasionally found
in the Southern States, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, etc , where it is often very
destructive to nver embankments.

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 59

after a cross was planted, we breakfasted. At seven we
embarked again. The wind having calmed, we took to the
oars and rowed about two leagues. The route in ascending
was N. W., and N. W. % W. ; afterwards, N. W. % N., and
N. N. W. We saw some small canoes, each made from three
bitndles of cane, bound with thin wooden straps*

The Indians make use of these in the chase, in cross-
ing from one side of the river to the other. At six o'clock
we landed and encamped. On ascending a tree we could
discern the sea at a distance of about a league and a half
from us. At this point we found the rapidity of the current
stronger than usual. One of the bark (Canadian) canoes,
which had remained behind with three hunters, reported
they saw three crocodiles (alligators) on the bank of the
river. This day we made eight leagues, assisted by the sails.
The forest trees began to assume larger dimensions, but not
very close together, for we could see across the country,
which was very marshy. We had, therefore, made some
eighteen or nineteen leagues in the river.

On ThursHay, the 5th, three of our men went hunting at
daylight; they saw many tracks and heard the howlings of
wild beasts. We planted a cross and made several marks

* Every form of the Indian canoe, except this, has been described by C. C.
JONES in his exhaustive work on- the " Antiquities of the Southern Indians,"
and as it is so entirely different from any that has been described by early writers
on this subject being lighter and more manageable for transportation and
gliding over the waters of large nvers in times of war, and in pursuit of game,
especially the deer and buffalo, it may be regarded as the most primitive.

60 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS Of [ l6 99-

upon the trees, and fired off one of our swivels to give notice
to the savages. We breakfasted, as usual, with a soup made
of flour, water, and lard, for we always reserved the lard for.
breakfast. Saw a large crocodile (alligator) on the river banks,
sunning himself. Some of our men fired at him, when he
immediately threw himself into the water. At eleven o'clock
we saw smoke arising from the burning grass, which the
Indians had set fire to, either to drive out the game, or
obtain easier access to fire upon us. At noon we landed to
dine, as the wind was contrary. At three o'clock, in going
up the river, saw a canoe which had been hollowed out by
burning from the trunk of a large tree. We would have
taken it if it had not been too much broken. In this place
the river bears N. W. j W. Between five and six
o'clock landed on a small point where we encamped
and cooked as usual ; this day we made six leagues
and must have been about twenty-four leagues in the
river.

On Friday, the 6th, we distributed two baskets of bread
among twenty-six persons, with a quantity of meat, after
which we fired a swivel. At seven o'clock we embarked in
a fog so thick we could scarcely see. The river continued
in a N. W. course twenty-seven leagues from its mouth,
afterwards the wind changed from N. W. to E., and then
from N. E. to N. W, again. At sundown we landed and
camped. We sent a man up a tree-top to look out ; but he
could not see anything. Two of our men, who were in a
bark canoe, told us they had seen three crocodiles (alliga-

1699-] LOUISIANA A XD FLORIDA 6 1

tors),* one of which was a monster. At seven o'clock a
buffalo was killed; we were then thirty leagues up the
river.f

On Saturday, the 7th, we embarked, after having erected
a cross, and marked some trees. Weather calm. At nine
o'clock, in ranging along the river we saw three buffaloes *
lying down on the bank. We landed five men to go in pur-
suit of them, which they could not do, as they soon got lost
in the thick forest and cane-brakes. A short time after, in
turning a point, we saw a canoe manned by two Indians,
who took to land the moment they saw us and concealed

* It is the alhgatoi (Lacerta Ctnerous) spoken of here. Crocodiles have never
been found in the nveis, lagoons, or swamps of Louisiana. The alligator differs
materially from the crocodile in many respects, particularly in their teeth ; the
fourth pair of the crocodiles passes upwards in a groove The alligator's per-
forates the upper jaw. The feet of the crocodile are webbed Those of the
alligator are only half webbed Nor does the crocodile bellow like the alligator,
while the flesh of the latter is considered by the Indians as a wholesome food.

\ They had now reached the present site of New Orleans, which was laid out
and inhabited twenty-three years after, and known as the grazing ground of the
American Buffalo (Bos Americanus).

\ This animal was found in great numbers east and west of the Mississippi or
Colbert river, when Louisiana was first settled, but they have since disappeared
with the numerous Indian tnbes then found on its banks by M. D'!BERVILLE.
This animal was first described by CORONADO, in his expedition to Cibola^ New
Mexico, 1540. The Indians employed both the gun and the arrow to hunt it,
and in the south-western States and Territories they are still hunted by the
natives on horseback, with the rifle and arrow, and slaughtered in immense
numbers Few animals in the gieat West contribute more to the comforts of
savage or civilized life Their flesh, when dned, serves for bread and meat, and
their skins for clothing and blankets. They are now but seldom found below
south of 32 to 33 north latitude.

62 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

themselves in the woods. A little farther on we saw five
more who executed the same manoeuvre, with the exception
of one, who waited for us at the brink of the river. We
made signs to him. M. D'IBERVILLE gave him a knife, some
beads and other trinkets. In exchange he gave us some
dried bear's meat. M. D'lBERViLLE commanded all of our
men to go on board the long-boats for fear of intimidating
him, and made signs to him to recall his comrades. They
came singing their song of peace, extending their hands to-
wards the sun and rubbing their stomachs, as a sign of
admiration and joy. After joining us they placed their
hands upon their breasts, and extended their arms over our
heads as a mark of friendship. M. D'lBE-RVlLLE asked them
by signs, if the Indians we had seen on the sea-shore, where
the vessels were at anchor, had arrived. They gave us to
understand the affirmative, and that they had gone up by a
branch of the river, which empties into the sea, near the
same place where he had crossed it. He then asked them
if their village was far off. They told him it was five days*
journey hence.

What troubled us most, was, that we began to be wearied,
and our provisions were falling short. M. D'lBERViLLE
gave them some beads, knives and looking-glasses ; in re-
turn they gave us dried bear's meat, which they had in their
canoes. Our men also trafficked with them for some trifling
objects. One good old man extended his meat upon the
ground, after the same manner our butchers do in our
markets of Europe, and sat down beside it. Two of our

1699-] LOVISrAXA AXD FLORIDA 63

men went to him, and each one gave him a knife and took
the whole of the meat, consisting of at least one hundred
pounds. All seemed satisfied with their bargain. M. D'lBER-
VILLE asked them if they would show him their village.
They gave him to understand the}'' were going on a hunt,
and could not accompany him. But having offered a hatchet
to one of them, who seemed very desirous to possess it, he
agreed to go. We asked them if they had heard the sound
of the swivel ; they said they had heard it twice. We fired
it again before them, at which they were greatly astonished,
for it was the first time they had ever heard it so near
them. We passed two hours among them. One of them
came on board of our shallop. We made him a present of
a shirt, the others did not appear jealous of the gift, so in-
different are they. The river at this place was N. W. by
S. W. At one o'clock we dined.

Our course was now S. S. W. by S. Witl a half a league
again tended N. W. by W. At six o'c ^ck landed and
encamped, our men standing guard as u c il. This day we
made five leagues, and were thirty-five^sagues from the
mouth. On Sunday, the 8th, after mass, we embarked at
seven o'clock ; river tending S. W. by N. W. and W. The
current was stronger than ordinarily, which made it necessary
for us to keep in the bends and cross the river from one point
to the other, three or four times. The weather was very warm
all day. Towards five o'clock a storm arose, which com-
pelled us to land and encamp. Some of our men killed a
crocodile (alligator), which they skinned and afterwards

64 HISTORICAL COLLECTION'S OF

cooked the flesh to eat. They also killed a rattle-snake *
upwards of six feet in length, the bite of which is said to be
mortal. The wind was from the north all night and very
cold. We this day made four leagues.

* The rattle-snake (cjotiZlits 7io?rid*is] is but seldom found in the low giounds
of the delta of the Aftssimppi, as the countiy is too wet for them , while the black
and watei snake are numeious, but not poisonous

1 699.]

LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA

CHAPTER V.

N Monday, thepth, at seven o'clock, after
having erected a cross, as usual, we em-
barked. At noon we landed to dine, our
usual custom, when the wind was not
high. We saw a smoke on the lower
side of us, which led us to believe we
were near the Indian village ; but we were deceived, as we
were yet distant from it some twenty leagues, as we found
out afterwards. The current was more rapid than on the
preceding day, which obliged us to make frequent crossings
of the river, and keep in the bends. The river tended N.
to S. W. At sundown we encamped, having made five
leagues, and were forty-four leagues from the outlet.

On Tuesday, the loth, we embarked at seven o'clock, on
the river, coursing N. W. to S. S. W., returning again W. N.
W. At ten o'clock we saw another smoke, of which our be-
lief was the same as of yesterday, but we were again mis-
taken. At noon we landed to dine, as there was a dead calm.
As we ascended the river, the forests grew larger and closer,
and the land was four to five feet higher than below. Dur-
ing the floods, the land is covered by the overflow at least

66 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

a foot deep, from the marks observable on the trees. At five
o'clock we encamped, having made six leagues, and being fifty
leagues from the mouth of the river.

On Wednesday, the nth, the heavy rain prevented our
embarkation until noon, when it ceased. Several of our
men went out hunting. Among the rest, two Breton sail-
ors, with their guns, who went so far in the interior, that they
found it impossible to retrace their steps, the forest and cane-
brakes being so dense. As they did not return at seven
o'clock, we fired several muskets in the direction they had
taken. The ram recommenced and continued all night.

On 1 Thursday, the I2th, M. D'lBERVlLLE ordered the swivel
to be fired off, and sent four men into the woods in search of
the lost sailors. He advised them to fire off their muskets
as they advanced into the forest, which they did after a march
of one league. They returned and reported they heard the
report of a gun at a distance, but could not discern their
tracks, which the heavy rains of the preceding night had ob-
literated. At ten o'clock he sent a new detachment of eight
men, in different directions, with compasses. They took pro-
visions with them, and were ordered not to return until they
were notified by the report of the swivel. A gun-boat was
also sent along the bank of the river, a distance of two
leagues, in quest of them. Between four and five o'clock the
swivel was fired to recall the men. The weather was dark
and lowering all day.

On Friday, March the I3th, at seven o'clock, we embarked ;
the river making several bends. At five o'clock we found

l6 99-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA. 6j

two canoes laden with millet. We went to them , II. D'lBER-
VILLE gave beads, knives and other articles in exchange
for the millet, and they appeared well satisfied. One of the
Indians belonged to the tribe of the Ouachas, the other to
the Bayagoulas, who returned the same evening to the vil-
lage. We mounted an iron mill we had with us to grind Indian
corn, for we had used all our flour, and were short of bread.
We began to make sagamite, which is in fact nothing more
than the groats of Indian corn mixed with water and lard to
season it, then baked. This was all we had to subsist on,
with water to drink, for our liquor had given out. I omitted
to mention, that towards three o'clock, we discovered a large
body of water, running in a S. E. direction, upon the borders
of which are several Indian nations. Its entrance is fifty-five
leagues from the mouth of the Mississippi. We made six
leagues this day, as the current of the river was not so strong,
on account of this body of water, which tended to diminish
it considerably.

On Saturday the I4th, we embarked for the village, which
we knew could not be far off, from the information given us
by the Indians on Friday. We rowed hard in order to arrive
there as soon as possible. The river winds about in several
places, which caused us to cross and take the eddy. At two
o'clock we saw a canoe in which were several Indians, three
men, two children, and one old man who, having been a
prisoner of war, had been scalped. He was clothed with a
bear's skin and besmeared with different colors of clay y
believing that this custom tends to beautify his looks. He

68 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

held in his hand a calumet, about three feet long, adorned
with feathers of birds of different plumage.* He was the
deputy of the chief of the Mongoulachas sent to receive us.
We continued our route without stopping for the ceremonies
of the Calumet, which are very long, as will be seen in the
sequel.

When we arrived near the village, the ambassador sang
several songs of peace, accompanied by loud yells. The
Indians assembled upon an eminence on the bank of the
river, where they had cut the cane away to receive us. We
landed at this beautiful place about four o'clock. The cane
which they had cut was upwards of twenty-five feet in length,
perfectly straight, about an inch and a half thick, and so close
together that one cannot pass through them without the
greatest difficulty. The chief was surrounded by about sixty

*"The calumet," says Father MARQUETTE, "than which theie is nothing
among the Indians moie mysterious or moie esteemed. Men do not pay to the
crowns and scepters of kings the honoi they pay to it , it seems to be the god of
peace and wai, the aibitei of life and death " The calumet of peace is adoined
with white feathers and the beaier may go eveiywheie without feai. The one foi
war is adoined with red featheis They use them also m settling disputes, sticngth-
ening alliances, and speaking to stiangeis When Indian nations entered into a
treaty of alliance, a pipe of peace was exchanged between them, which was then
called the pipe of covenant It was caiefully preseived, and gcneially lighted in
council whenever anything occuned to disturb the alliance , then each smoked
a little out of it "When IBERVILLE," says PENICANT (Historical Collections
of Louisiana and Florida" printed 1869), " ai lived in Louisiana, the chiefs
came to him smoking the calumet and singing the song of peace The tube of
the calumet foi ceremony is long, and the bowl of the pipe is usually made of
re.d baked clay or marble." For a further descnption of calumets used for othei
purposes, consult Jones's " Antiquities of Southern Indians/' pp. 387-393.

1699-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 69

persons, among whom were several women, which is the
greatest mark of friendship that can be given or received by
them. M. D'IBERVILLE was received by them in the usual
manner. They began by elevating their arms towards the

sun, as in admiration, then passed their hands over his

f
breast, which is a peculiar form of endearment among them.

The same ceremony was performed upon M. DE SAUYOL, M.
BlENVlLLE, and Father ANASTASIUS, afterwards over our
men. We returned their salutations in the same manner.
They then made us sit down upon the cane, whfch they
had covered with bear-skins. The chief then presented the
calumet of peace to M. D'lBERVlLLE, who took it and seated
himself among the savages. The other savages performed
the same ceremony with our men, who all smoked of the
calumet. They then brought us Indian corn, cooked in
various different ways, in round and long cakes, baked in the
ashes, mixed with bear's oil, or sagamite mixed with beans.
We partook of a little of each sort, and gave the rest to the
sailors, who carried them to the boats. M. D'IBERVILLE
poured out a small quantity of brandy and water, of which
each one drank but little, findingjt too strong, having never
before tasted of liquor. He then distributed among them
beads, needles, looking-glasses, knives, and other trinkets.
These ceremonies and the feasting continued until six
o'clock, at which hour the chief made the young men sing,
each one holding in his hand a gourd filled with small grains.
They shook them in cadence, which accorded well with their
voices ; at the end of each song, which is short, they make

7O HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1699.

the most frightful yells ; which can be heard at the distance
of a league, reverberating through the woods. This cere-
mony having lasted two hours, the chief bid us adieu, after
his manner. We gave him to understand that on the morrow
we were going to his village. The Indians then lighted
their flambeaux, which consisted of dried reeds tied up in
bundles, and stuck in the ground and set on fire, giving out
a brilliant light. Four of them began to dance around these
lights, clapping their hands and touching together their feet,
for about an hour. After this last dance all of them retired
with the exception of four or five who remained with us.

M. D'lBERVTLLE demanded of them if the branch (La
Fonrche) of the river was yet far distant. They gave him to
understand there was none. We thought they answered thus
that we might remain among them, a thing impossible, as we
were too far up the river, and, moreover, it is so crooked, that
in the course of six leagues, it is necessary to make every
point of the compass. We marked the course of the river
upon a piece of paper with a pencil, which they seemed to
comprehend very well, we then gave them the pencil to mark
the place where we thought the branch of the river ought
to be. We showed them at the same time the place where
our ships were, which they called in their language pinams
or canoes ; but they persisted in saying there was no branch
of the river. Wearied with our reiterated demands, they
said there was one by which they had ascended, but that the
water therein was at present very low, and they had been
obliged to make several portages. At eleven o'clock at

1699-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA. 71

night they made a fire near our tents, on account of the cold
weather, and being without covering, they then went to rest.
We did not retire until near morning. I omitted to say that
the calumet presented to the Bayagoula chief by M, D'lBER-
VILLE, at the main land, was about four feet long, made
of stee^ iuit/1 the arms of France engraved upon the bowl of
the pipe^ and at the extremity a white flag. They placed
tobacco in it, and presented it to MM. D'lBERVILLE, BlEN-
VILLE, SAUVOL, and Father ANASTASIUS, each of whom
feigned to smoke it. They then planted two forked sticks
in the ground upon which it was placed, in a leathern bag.
They hold the calumet in the highest esteem.

The following is a description of the manners, habits, and
customs of these savages and their mode of living and
clothing. The Chief of the Mongoulachas ivas clothed ivith
a blue cloak after the fashion of the Canadians , with stockings
of the same color, a cravat of a villainous red stuff, that had
formerly served as a flag, all of which had been presented to
him by M. DE TONTY, at the time of his descent in search of
M. DE LA SALLE. The chief professed an inconceivable
haughtiness ; he smiled, and looked at our men with a fixed
gaze. As to the others, they were dressed with the skin of
bear or deer, which covered them from the shoulders down
to the knees, according to the size of the hide. The greater
portion of them, however, go naked, without anything about
them except a flap. The women are either clothed with a
bear's skin or a flap fastened by a girdle which extends to the
knees, leaving naked the breast and loins. Their hair, a

72 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP [1699.

well as their beard, is all cut or pulled out, except a small
cluster on the crown of the head, which they let grow long,
and to which they attach the feathers of birds of various
colors. They also attach ornaments to portions about their
thighs, which have the appearance of horse tails, to which
they fix small copper bells, which, when dancing, create a
noise like that made on the road by Spanish mules. They
wear upon their arms copper bracelets, and besmear their
faces blue and black, and paint their eyebrows with a color
like vermilion mixed with black.* They sometimes pierce
the nose and ears, in which they suspend pieces of coral, or
ornaments, and wood of a peculiar quality and shape. As to
their food, it consists principally of Indian corn, with very
little meat, which they only eat when they are hunting, or at
a distance from their villages.

* The custom of the Southein Indians painting their bodies is nol confined to
America, but is a charactenstic trait of all savage tubes. The native Bntams,
Germans, and Scandinavians formerly piacticed it, and the aboiiginob of other
countries continue the custom to the present day, with a view of making them-
selves attractive to their fi lends and terrible to then enemies. The substances
usually employed aie ochies, clays, and other mineials, the pioduction of their
country, which they will travel many leagues to obtain.

1 699-]

LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA.

CHAPTER VI.

iHE chiefs have their hunting-grounds
bounded, and when another tribe in-
trudes beyond its own limits, it gives
rise to war. During the evening, we fired
off the swivel, which threw them into
consternation. They repeated " afferro"
which signifies in their language " I am astonished'' Their
village is about the distance of sixty leagues from the
mouth of the river. On Sunday, at four o'clock in the
morning, three of the principal men came from their village,
singing and yelling, holding out the calumet, which they
presented to M. D'lBERViLLE and the rest of our people to
smoke. A drink of brandy was given again to each one of
them. At six o'clock mass was performed, and after break-
fast, we went to the village to visit the chief and carry him
presents, which consisted of a scarlet coat with gold facings,
red stockings, two shirts, axes, knives, beads, and mirrors.
When we arrived at their village, they seated us upon mats,
and gave us pipes to smoke, afterward, they brought us
dried buffalo and bear's meat and bread, of which we par-
took, and then went out to visit the village temple, in which.

74 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1699.

they keep a fire continually burning. In the interior of the
temple were figures of animals, marks of their sacrifices, and
scalps of their enemies hung up as trophies. At eleven
o'clock we returned to our cabins, and about noon they
came to our tents accompanied by their chief, who was
dressed in the coat presented to him by M. D'llJERVlLLE.
Very soon after there came a crowd of Indians bringing
corn in the ear and gram, which they afterwards pounded
and made into bread, which pleased us very much, for we
were short of provisions, and knew not where to obtain fresh
supplies. Some of our men afterwards went back to the
village to traffic for bear's skins and deer's skins, in exchange
for beads, knives, and trinkets. I noticed about'the middle
of their village, in an open space, what appeared to be a
depot of arms. Before the door of the temple were two
large posts, about forty feet in height, upon which two
scalps were placed. The village contained some four or five
hundred persons of both sexes, large and small.

They sleep on mats resting upon stakes, about three feet
from the ground. When the weather is very cold, they
kindle a fire under these mats, as they have nothing but
some skins with which to cover themselves* The fields
where they cultivate their millet, are near their village.
They break up the ground with buffalo bones. Much of
their time is spent in amusing themselves with a round stone
ball which they strike with sticks. When any of them die,
the body is carried about fifty paces from the village, where
it is placed upon a platform raised upon four posts, and

1699-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 75

covered with mats. Afterwards they throw up a bed of
earth near by, several feet thick, upon which they place vic-
tuals for the deceased to eat.

Two different nations (allied) inhabit this village: the
Mongoulachas and Bayagoulas, who speak the same lan-
guage. They have two chiefs. The ^longoulacha chief ap-
pears to have precedence. They dwell about a quarter of
a league from the river. Towards evening we made a large
cross, upon which we placed the arms of France, and the
next morning, Monday, the i6th, we planted it In the ground.

All the Indians from the village, with their chiefs, came to
see us off. Eight of them went with us in a canoe. The
chief of the Bayagoulas oifered his services to M. DTBER-
VILLE as a guide to the village of the Oumas. The river is
very crooked in this place, with a strong current, and much
augmented when the wind is in the same direction. From
nine o'clock till five in the evening we made five leagues.
We encamped one league above a body of water which they
said was the branch we were in quest of, but which is noth-
ing more than a lake extending within four or five leagues of
our ships, with several portages over which the canoes must
be carried. We told the chief, before taking our departure
with him, that two of our men were lost in the woods while
hunting, and requested him to supply them with something
to eat if found, and we would remunerate them on our
return.

On Tuesday, the i/th, we embarked, at seven o'clock.
The river was as crooked as the day before, with a current

76 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1699.

less rapid. Two leagues from the place of our encampment
we left the two bark canoes and those of the Indians, with
a party of our men to hunt, as we were growing short of pro-
visions and wished to reserve a part for our return voyage.

*

At three o'clock in the afternoon we landed at a small river
w.hich resembled a lake, and in which the Indians said there
was an abundance of fish. We found several cabins covered
with palmetto leaves, which had been constructed by the
Oumas, who come here to fish and hunt. They have even
erected here a large post thirty feet high, which is orna-
mented with carved designs of fishes. We then fixed our
nets, which we did not draw until next morning. Whilst a
portion of the men went hunting, we saw buffalo and doer,
which soon disappeared in the cane-brakes.

On Wednesday, the i8th, our canoes and those of the In-
dians rejoined us, and we went to draw the nets, in which
we found but a solitary cat-fish.* As to our men whom we
left two leagues below, they found a bear, which the Indian*
pointed out to them in the fork of a tree. One of them
ascended with fire-brands, which he left in the fork of the
tree. The bear, feeling the heat, left his retreat and climbed

* The cat-fish of this rivei (Sifurus Mississippiensis) sometimes grows enor-
mously laige, and is still a favonte food of the Indians, when sliced and smoked.
The Southern Indians weie, in general, great goui mauds, and lived sumptuously
on wild game, fish, and oysters, buffalo, deer, and bear-meat in their season.
They also freely ate coin, beans, pumpkins, and peisimmons, of which they
made bread mixed with corn-meal. Near all their villages and habitations they
cultivated, says RIBAULT and Du PRATZ, fields of maize (corn) and another nour-
ishing grain, called choupitchoul, or wild nee, which grows without cultuie.

I6Q9-J LOUISIANA W.VZ> FLORIDA 77

higher. M. DE BlENVlLLE then took his gun, and after sev-
eral shots killed him. The Indians took possession of him,
as they pretended they had killed him, and M. DE BlENVlLLE
abandoned him to them. The river here winds from west to
north-east, after which it turns west by south. Toward three
o'clock the Indians showed us a small stream where the
water was very tranquil. They told us we could shorten
our journey a day and a half by passing through that place.
M. D'IBERVILLE got into a bark canoe to examine if he
could pass there. He found no obstructions but a few small
trees. He landed all the Canadians with their axes, and the.
rest of the men with ropes to haul the larger boats. We
then made a route by digging away the earth as much as
possible, and after rigging a tackle we passed our boats
through from one side of the river to the other. There
were about thirty paces of land and seventy paces of water.
By this cut-off we saved a distance of six leagues, which we
discovered upon our return. Whilst we \vere engaged in
crossing this neck of land we sent several of the canoes over
the river for the purpose of getting some sagamite made by
the Indians.

At thirteen leagues from the village of the Mongoulachas
we met with very high land, a thing we had not before seen
since our entrance into the river. A short time after we
saw an island extending N. W. and S. E., about a quarter of
a league in length. The river runs to the south of the small
channel we found. We made five leagues this day, and
fou-nd ourselves seventy leagues up the river.

7 HISTORICAL COLLECTION'S OF

On Thursday, the ipth, at eight o'clock in the morning,
we embarked on the river, and after making several leagues,
we stopped at noon for dinner, which consisted of nothing
but corn bread mixed with a little lard. Between one and
two o'clock we started off again, and found the river wider
than usual. Some of our men in the canoes having landed
to see if they could procure anything to eat, found a deer
freshly killed, which had probably been strangled by a wolf.
M. D'IBERVILLE divided it among the two crews, and we ate
of it with a good appetite, although the entrails had already
begun to be tainted. The Indians smoked and dried the bear
killed by M. DE BlENVlLLE on the Thursday before, which
made up for us an excellent repast. At six o'clock in the
evening, we encamped three leagues from the O it was, firing
off the swivel to notify them of our approach. This day we
made six leagues (eighteen miles).

1699.]

LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA

79

CHAPTER VII.

j|N Friday, the 2oth, having made our usual
marks, we embarked at an early hour.
The river winds from E. to N. E., then
W. by N. The fog was so dense that
we could not see an island, situated
about one league below the Oumas.
About ten o'clock we arrived on the bank of the river where

EXTRACT FROM A LETTER ADDRESSED TO FATHER Jean & Lambervtlk, CAN-
ADA ; BY FATHER 1?. P. Jacqzies Grainer, ONE OF THE EARLIST ILLINOIS
MISSIONARIES, AND WHO DESCENDED THE COLBERT (MISSISSIPPI) RIVER

IN I7OO-I TO MEET M tflbennlle, GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF LOUISIANA.

ON REVEREND PERE,

PAX Xi.

"M. St. Come ayant apris que M. Davion etoit a 1'extremite est arrive
de la mission des Natches. Avant mon depart ils m'ont confirm^ Tun
et 1'autie le naufrage du Pere de Limoges qui de tout ce qu'il auoit n'a
sauu^ que son Calice et son Crucifix. Ils luy ont donne tout ce qu'il luy
falloit pour aller jusqu'au fort de Mississipi tres edifies de la joye et de la
fermete qu'il leur a fait paroitre dans la perte assez considerable qu'il a fait de
tous les meubles de Mission, benissant Dieu, m'ont ils dit, de ce^ qu'il Tavoit
7

8O HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1699.

the Onmas* were waiting for us. We found three of the
principal chiefs of the nation, who met us singing the song
of peace, and holding out to us the calumet, which was first
presented to our chief men to smoke, and then to all of us.
At eleven o'clock, MM. D'!BERVILLE, SAUVOL, BIENVILLE,

* A few cabins of this ancient and mteiesting tube of Indians arc slil] occu-
pied by the suivivois of this nation in Louisiana They believed m one gieat
Spmt, who had made all things. They had the leputation of being great wai-
riois, but not ciuel to then pusoneis. They diessed like the Tomcas. The
women wore a funged lobe of mulberiy cloth, which they spun like hemp and
flax, and sometimes made mantles of skins, which coveied them fiom the waist
to their knees They plaited their hair, and sometimes tatooed then faces, and
blackened then teeth like the Tomcas and Natchez, with the ashes of tobacco.

ainsy detach^ de tout ce qu'il auoit , Jl s'en faut beaucoup an icste m'a dit Mr
de St. Cosme, que les Natcht's soient aussi dociles que les Touinka* Us sont
poligames, voleuis, et foit vicieux, les filles et les femmes plus que les hommcs,
et les garjons, paimy lesquels il y a bien i lefoimer auant que dans espeier
quelque chose. Les Taensav, qui ont la meme langtie, out aussi les mcmes
rnceuis, leui village est i 20 lieues de la imiere des Tounika. II est a 4 heues
dans les tenes Apres une heue de chemm Ton tombe sui uu lac, ou il y a
toujours quantite de Ciocodiles. II le faut tiauciser en Canot pour aller au
village qui est plus lamasse que celuy des Toumka.

" L'annee passe'e le temple ayant,<ite reduit en cendres par le tonneire, qui
tomba sui une matiere aussi combustible que le sont lc& Cannes clont il ctoit
couuert, Le vieillaid qui en etoit le Gardien, dit que Tesprit ctoit fache qu'on
n'eut fait moiuir personne d la mort du deiniei chef, et qu'il falloit Tapaibcr.
Cinq femmes ement la cniaute de jetter leurs enfants dans le feu, a la veue des
Fran$ois qui me 1'ont laconte, ou plutost les donnerent au vieillaid qui les jetta
dans le feu en faisant ses invocations, et en chantant avec ses femmes duiant cette
ciuelle ceremome, et sans les Fra^ois il y cut encoie eu bien des cnfants builes
La Cabanne du chef ayant etc conuertie en temple opi y poita en triomphe le& 5
meies denaturees comme 5 heroines.

" A la pointe du detour ou est vilkge, la Riuiere n'a guere qu'un arpent et
demi de large et fait un detioit, oi 1'on a bien de la peine a lefoulei le couraut

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA, Si

Father ANASTASIUS, and four Canadians set out with them
to go to their village, the road to which is very difficult.
The first half league was through a dense cane-brake, after
which we had to pass through water, and then climb a steep
hill at a rapid pace, for the Indians have nothing to embar-
rass them on the march. Having gained the top of a high

et c'eft la on Mr de la Salle dit qu'il y a un gouffre ou. les arbies se precipitent
la lacme en haut et ne vont soitir qu'a plus d'une demie lieue plus bas, ce que
je n'ay pas appergu, peut estre que cela n'ariiua que lorsqu'il passa ou ne s'y voit
que de temps en temps. Apres auoir essuye de grandes pluyes, qui durant la
nmt auioient monde tout notie bagage, si j'eusse dormy aussi profondement que
nos Canoteurs, nous auons assez beau temps pour arnver aux 2Catehs au sud des
Taensas dont ils sont eloignez de 20 heues. A pies auoir monte une petite coste
on trouue un grand chemm battu qui conduit a un grand coteau assez escaipe,
les grandes eaux en couvrent plus de la moitie. Au haut de ce coteau, on
de'couure une belle prairie, le chemm le plus battu conduit au -village ou cst le
temple ; les autres qui coupent a droit et a gauche, vont a differens hameaux.
II n'y a que 4 Cabannes dans celuy ou est le temple, il est fort spacieux et cou-
uert de Cannes nattees qu'ils renouuellent tous les ans auec de grandes cere-
monies, qu'il seroit tiop long de marquer icy Elles commencent par un
jeune de quatre jours auec* des vomitoires jusqu'au sang II n'y a ni fen estre ni
cheminee dans ce temple, et ce n'est qu'a la Incur du feu qu'on y voit un peu,
encore faut il que la porte, qui ^sst fort basse et fort etroite soit ouuerte, Je
m' imagine que I'obscuute du lieu leur inspire du respect Le vieillard qui en
est le gardien, y entretient toujours le feu, et donne bien de garde de U Jaisser
etemdre. II est au milieu du temple deuant un espece de Mauzolee a la man-
lere des sauuages. II y en a 3 de 8 ou 9 pieds de long d'environ 6 pieds de
large et de 9 ou 10 pieds de haut. Ils sont soutenus sur 4 gros poteux reuestues
de nattes de Cannes en colonne assez propres, et surmontez dun platfond de
Cannes nattees. Cela auroit assez bonne grace si tout n'etoit pas nrcy de
fumee et couuert de suye. II y a une grande natte qui sert de ndea* pour
couunr une grande table couuerte de 5 ou 6 nattes qui sert de ndeau pour
couurir une grande table couuerte de 5 ou 6 nattes de Cannes sur lequel il y a
une grande corbeille qu'il n'est pas permis d'ouvnr parceque Tesprit de chaque
nation de ces quartiers repose, dit on, auec celuy des Natches* Je me scay

82 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1699*

hill, in sight of their village, we stopped to rest, for we were
perspiring with the exertion and heat of the weather. They
gave us pipes to smoke, and one who had told us to stop
when near the village returned soon after, and made signs for
us to enter. When we reached the first cabins, as it was rain-
ing, we took shelter in them for a moment, and then continued

mauvais gre de n'auon pas ouueit la Coibeille, quoy que j'eus>&e fait de la pcme
au vieillard d'ouum le udeau et de vonlon toucher A cette coibeillc II y en
a d'auties dans les 2 auties Mauzolees, ou ils disenl que sent lea osbcments de
leuis chefs qu'ils icveient comine des divmitez Tout ce que jc vis do plus laie
c'est un moiceau de cnstal de roche que j'ay trouue dans ime petite coiheille,
J'ay veu quantite de petits pots, plats, tasse de teire et de petits panicis de
Cannes bien faits C'est pom feivn a mangei aux cspiits des. chefs moi ts ci le
gaidien du temple y tiouue son compte.

"Apres auoir visite tout ce qm est dans temple, je n'ay vft, ni la ni aillcuis, ni
Tor, ni 1'aigent, ni les pierreneb, ni les nchesses ni les neuf brasses de perlcs
fines qu'on fait remaiquei a 1'auteurd'une relation impnme'e sous le nom de Mi
de Tonty, et qu'il a de'fauoue a celuy qui lui icprochoit toutes les, mcntenes dont
elle est remphe C'est aussi tine fable que ce que Te'ciivam ose diie auoii este
vu par Mi Tonty dans une petit armone enchassee dans la muraille icvestuc de
bousillage, ou je n'ay vft n'y goute aucune des liqueuis exquises dont il paile
Ce sont toutes choses controuuees pax le m&ne autheur pom embelhr son lus-
toue, II est vrai que la femme du chef a quelques petites perles, qui nc sont n'y
rondes, ny bien percees , mais a 7 ou 8 pies qui sont grosses commc de petits
poix qu'on a achetees plus cheies qu^elles ne valient, Apres les auon bien chcr-
chees, II n'y a nen des nchesses n'y des raretez qu'on a voulu faire cioirc se
trouuer dans le temple et dans le village. Le Franjois que Mr d'Iberville y a
laisse pour apprendie la langue m'a dit qu'a la mort du derniei chef on a fait
mounr deux femmes, 3 hommes et 3 enfants : ils les etranglerent auec la corde
d'un arc et cette cruelle c^mome se fait auec grand appareil ; ces malheureuscs
victimes, se cioyant foit honore'es d'accompagnei leur chef par une mort vio-
lente , pour le giand chef qui mourut quelques mois aupaiavant, il n'y en eut
que 7. Sa femme mieux auisee que les autres ne voulut pas le fuivrc, et se mit
a pleuier quand on voulut I'obligei d'accompagner son mary. Mr de Montigni
qui a quitte ce pais pour aller i Siam, etant averti de ce qu'ils auoient coutume

1699-] ^OUISIA.VA A^D FLORIDA. 83

on. When we came to the principal square of the village,
we met the three chiefs who had received us, each one with
a cross in his hand. They took us to the temple on account
of the rain, and there seated us on mats, and gave us pipes
to smoke ; afterwards, corn-bread and pumpkins were brought
for us to eat, accompanied with many protestations of friend-

de faire, leur fit promettre de ne faire mourir personne. Us lui donnerent pour
garantie de leur parole une petite esclave qu'ils auoient resolu de faiie mounr,
sans la defense qu'il leur fit * mais pour garder leur maudit coutume sans qu'il
s'en apper9ut la femme du chef qu'ils appellent Ouachil Tamail, soleil femme (qui
est toujours sa seem, et non la femme du giand chef) luy persuada de se letner
dans un village esloigne pour n'auoir pas la teste rompue du bruit qu'on feroit
dans une cereinome oil tout le monde se deuoit trouuer. Mi de Montigni ne se
doutant de rien la crut et se retira, mais en son absence 11s firent mourn ceux
qu'ils crurent necessaires pour aller faiie la Cuisine du chief et pourle seivir en
1'autre monde ; au reste il n'y a que les vieillards qui entre dans le temple pour
faire leurs hurlements tels que je les ay vu faire, apres avoir attise le feu

" Tous les hommes qui passent deuant le temple mettent bas leur chaige, et
etendent leurs bras du coste du temple avec de grands hurlements, et s'lk ont
de petits enfants, Us les prennent entre leuis bras et se tournant du cote du
temple, Ils. leur font toucher 3 fois la tene auec le front. Us font ces m ernes
hurlements quand ils passent deuant le chef, ou la femme chef, ou qu'il leur
parlent, ou qu'ils leur presentent a bone ou a manger ou a fuiner. Cette femme
chef a beaucoup d'espnt, et a plus de ciedit qu'on ne pense : son fiere n'est pas
un giand genie ; il s'est remarie 9 fois sans qu'aucune femme ayt pu restei auec
luy ; elles Tont toutes quitte et a present il vit seul a son particuher.

" Les femmes sont toutes vetues fort proprement et bien couuertes jusqu'a
mijambe, auec un manteau qui descend jusqu'au dessous du genouil La
pluspart ont les dents noires, et c'est une beaute parmi elles ; C'est en machant
du charbon de tabac avec de la cendre, dont elles les frottent tous les matins
qu'elles les noircissent.

" Le bled n'etoit pas encore cueilly la lere lecolte se fait en ces quartiers
dans le mois de Jum, et la 2de qui est le plus abondante ne se fait qu'i la fin de
Novembre. Outre qu'ils ofFrent au temple les premices de leurs fruits, dans ce
village la, la femme chef faisoit faire la recolte du bled pour le temple, et

84 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS DF [1699.

ship. M. D'lBERViLLE distributed among them axes, beads,
two shirts, a cover-lid, knives and mirrors, some awls, and
small bells. He told them he would make them other pres-
ents upon his return to the boats, which they comprehended.
They all arose to thank him, by crying out three times, " hou,
hou, hou ! " and elevating their hands, a practice they do not

peisonne n'osei efusei ce que ses emissanes veulent piendie. C'est poui Ic chef
et la femme chef et pour donner i mangei aux espnts des chefs moils qui se fait
cette lecolte mais tout le monde est du festin qu'ori leui fait durant 6 jours
avec leshuilemt les ciis et les ce'ie'monies oids quMs ne veulent pas evplujuei
aux Missanes & qui poui toute icponse, ils dibent nou-koit^ c'est i due,ytf ne
s$ay pas poiirquoi cela se fait Tout depend de la comission des chefs qui ont
trop d'interet de passer poui des espntb parmy leuis gens pour embiassei hi tost
1'humihte' chietienne

" Nous sommes paitis de ce village des Natchez le 24e et le 250 Novembie
1700 Nous auons decouueit les Cotteauxdes houma* au sud du Mississipi, qui
fait une baye oil Ton entie laissant sui la dioite le giand canal. II y a une bonne
lieue et demie du debarquement au village des Hottmas pai un assez manuals
chemm & toujouis montei et descendie et & maicher a dcmi combe dans lev
Cannes Le village e&t sui la creste d'une montogne roide et c&caipcc de tous
cotez. II y a 80 cabannes, et au milieu du village line belle place fort unie, on
depuis le matin jusqu'au sou il y a de jeunes gens qui s'cxcicent i coniii apres
une piene platte qu'ils jettent en Tan d'un bout de la place i Tautre et qu'ils
tachent de faire tombei sur deux cilmdies qu'ils font loulei oil ils cioycnt que la
piene doit tomber, Le temple n'a nen de beau que le vestibule, qui cst oine dc&
plus agi cables grotesques et des mieux faites qu'en puisse gueie voir, Ce sont
quatie satyies dont deux sont en bosse soitant tous qnatre de la muiaille qui ont
a la teste, aux mams et aux pieds en bandeaux, en biacelets, en jaretieies, en
bandouheie et en cemtmes des serpents, des souiis et des chiens. Les coulcurs
en sont nones, blanches, louges et jaunes , et si bien appli^uecs et sans confusion
que c'est un spectacle qui surprend agieablement. Le vieillard qui y enti client
le feu qu'il nous nomma Louak ou LottghS* feu facre, nous fit von les ossements
de la femme chef qui mourut 1'annee pabsee Ce'tte femme s'etoit rendue si con-
sideiable par les coups qu'elle avoit faits sur les ennenus, ayant conduit elle
meme plusieuis partis de guene, qu'on la regaidoit c6me une amazone et coe la

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA 85

observe when making presents to each other. The chief
thanking him after the same manner, made a division of the
presents. The rain having ceased we placed the mats on the
public square, near the cabin of the chief. The Indians then
made arrangements to give us a diversion, and performed
several dances with castanets in their hands ; the women and

maitiesse de tout le village, a qui on lendoit plus d'honneur qu'au grand chef,
tenant la le place dans tous les conseils, et quand elle marchoit elle etoit toujours
precedee de 4 jeunes homines qui luy chantoient et dansoient le Calumet. Elle
etoit habillee en Amazone, se peignoit le visage et avoit la chevelure faite come
les homines. On ne fait dans se village nen de tous les hurlemts ordmaues aux
Natchez loisqu'ils passent deuant le temple/vis a vis du quel il y a une chapelle
de 50 pieds de long que le peie du Rut fit batir le printemps passe auec une
grande Croix de 35 ou 40 pieds de haut qu'il a fait arborer dans la place du
village.

" Le Peie de Limoges y etoit anive depuis deux ou 3 jours pour s f y etablir et
pour trauailler a la conuersion des houmas qui me paroissent fort dociles. Le
grand chef est fort raisonnable, et dit qu'il ne reconnoist qu'un esprit qui a tout
fait J'ay compte 70 Cabannes dans le village que j'ay visite auec le Pere de
Limoges qui m'a voulu donner les pre'rmces de sa mission par le bapteme que
j'ay fait d'un enfant de 3 jours a qui j'ay donne le nom de St Francois Xavier,
Patron de la mission, a qui Dieu a ouvert le Paradis peu de jours apres pour y
travailler a la convex sion de ses parents et de ses compatnotes.

"Le 3e Decembre 1700 nous auons celebre la feste de ce grand Saint le plus
solennellement que nous auons pii et j'ay chante la premiere grand* messe qu'on
ait entendu dans le village. J'ay este surpns de leur peu de cunosite. Si le
Mississipi s'etablit, et que cette mission ne nous soit pas ote*e, il y a sujet d'es-
perer de la docihte de ces pauures gens, qu'on y fera dubien, les femmes et les
filles y out plus de pudeur que chez les nations voismes. Dieu veuille les con-
vertir et rendie le chemin de leur village impracticables a certains Fran5ois lib-
ertins Tout ce qu'ils iont a leurs malade, c*est de les sucer jusqu'au sang. I'en
ay veu un entre les mains des vieillard Jongleurs, dont Tun siffloit et jouait da la
gourde, un autre sucoit, et f autre chantoit la chanson du Crocodile dont la peau
luy seruoit de tambour.

" Comme ils se contentent de leurs citrouilles et de leur bled qu'ils ont en

86 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF * [ l6 99-

youth of both sexes joining in together, all dressed out after
their fashion, which, although savage, in appearance, did not
produce a bad effect. Evening coming on, they entered the
cabin of the chief, where they danced until midnight ; the
chief never left us. He was a venerable old man of some
sixty years of age. It was not until after midnight that he

abondance, Us sont feneants et ne vont guere a la chasse Ils ne laissent pas
d/avoir la leputation d'etie guerneis et cVeshe ciams dcs nations voismcs. Ils
ne font pas cruels, et bien loin de faiie mouur aucun des enclaves qu'ils font,
Des qu'ils entrant dans le village, les femmes pleiuent sin eux, les pLugnant
d'avoh ete pi is, et les traitent ensuite mieux quc leuis enfants Quand quclqucs
uns de leui? gens vont a la chasse, le? femmes se mcltcnl a pleuiei commc si
elles alloient les perdie, Et quand ils levienxicnt dc la chasse ellcs pleurcnt de
joye de les levoir.

" II y a peu de villages en Fiance ou il y ait plus de poule et de coqs quo dans
celui des Hoitmas^ aussi n'en tuent-ils jamais, et ne veulent pas memo manger de
celles que leurs chiens tuent assez souuent. Quand on vcut avoii dc poulcls d'eux
il ne faut pas dire qu'on les veut tuer ou manger, Ils aiuoient dc la pcine A, les
donnei , mais ih les vendent volon tiers quand on nc les tue pas en Iciu pre-
sence, ou qu'on leiu dit qu'on les empoite poui les elevei commc eux. Lcs
poules ont des petits poulets en tous temps, Et dans le moibdcDccembic il y en
avoit dans toutes les Cabannes Aussi sont elles chaudemt dans ces Cabannes
qu'ils ont soin de tenir piopies, et qu'ils bahent 2 ou 3 fois le jour.

" Les enfants, les hommes et le? jeunes gens sonthabillez comme les Tounika.
Les femmes poitent un habit flange, qiu les couure depuis la Ccinturc ju&qu'au
dessous des genoux Quand elles sortent de leur Cabanne elles s>c couuicnt
d'une robe de rats masque's ou de plumes decoqs-d'Inde. Elles ont le visage
picque et figuie, et les cheueux ti esses come les Tounika et les Nattfufs, ct se
noircissent les dents comme elles. Quoique tons les sauuage* cnugnent cxtic-
mement le froid, i la momdie gele'e (car il n'y a pas d'hyver) Ils se vont baigncr
grands et petits, et sortent de Teau transis de froicl. C'est un vieillaid qui fait
le ens au point du join quand il gele Ces soites de bains leur causent quelque-
fois le flux de sang qui en empoite plusieuis. Au leste le Peic dc Limoges com-
mence se faiie entendie, et feia du bien dans cctte mission, II m'a raconte'
son naufrage ou il a tout perdu, et la perte est plus considerable qu'on ne peut

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 87

left us in the cabin. I forgot to mention that \vhen I was
about to feturn at four o'clock, he took me by the arms and
made me sit down, giving me to understand that I had not
time to reach the boats, which were in fact three good leagues
distant from the river. We asked about the branch of the
river, but we could not gain any information from them, a

croire. Plus d'une mission s'en ressentha , ce fut en se laissant denuer la nuit
au Courant que leur Canot heurta centre un aibre qui etoit arreste au nnheu du
courant qui lui fit faire la pnouette et demema sur le coste plein d'eau, et s'il ne
fut arreste promptement a 1'arbre, II se seroit noye a demi endoimi. II a tout
perdu hors son calice qu'il sauua le tirant je ne sais comment hors de la cassette.
C'est tout ce qu il put conserver et c'est un espece de miracle qu'il ait pu se
sauuer luy meme, apres auoir dispute sa vie presque 3 heures au moyen d'une
branche d'arbre que le courant emportoit, et laquelle il s'estoit attache avec ses
deux matelots. II s'est laisse aller au courant, qui la enfin pousse a terre et
apres s'estre sesche sans feu au vent et au soleil du mieux qu'IIs ont pu, ils ont fait
un Cajeu de 3 ou 4 pieces de bois flottant qu'ils on lies auec des harres et on
navigues 3 jours entiers sur ce nouueau canot, toujours entre deux eaux sans
manger autre chose duiant ce temps la qu'un peu de pourpie sauuage tout cru.
Ce cher missionnaire m'a dit la qu'il s'est lors souuenu auec fruit de St Francois
Xavier disputant sa vie autant de jour avec les eaux sur un bout de planche II
decouurit le 4e jour le feu de quelques Akansea qui etoient a la chasse. II en
fut re9U et ses compagnons fort humamement. Ils leur donnerent k manger et
les conduisirent jusqu 1 & leur village , ou le Peie trouua son Canot qui s'estoit ar-
reste a des embarras de bois. II a depuis este equipe de tout ce qui est neces-
sane pour sa mission des Hou-nias.

"D'ou je partis le 4e Decembre 1700 et apres 3 lieues de nauigation nous
trouames au nord du Mississipi la Riviere Rouge, dont on parle tant. Si la 3e
tentative que les Fi an 5015 y ont fait depuis 7 ou 8 mois reussit, les missionnaires
y auront un passage pour aller a diverses nations qui bordent cette riuiere qui
court au sud est : elles ne sont presque toutes qu'en petits hameaux, comme les
Na1ch&, ce qui fait dire a ceux qui veulent donner de grandes idees de toutes ces
nations qu'il y a des villages sans fin, et de 3 ou 4, 5 ou 6 lieues d'etendue vonlant
faire passer des hameaux de 3 ou 4 cabanes esloignez les unes des antres pour la
commodite du terrain, pour autant de villages, de la meme nation. Mr de Bien-

88 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF t l6 99-

circumstance that troubled us very much ; not knowing what
course to pursue, and believing that they wished to deceive
us, we became dissatisfied with them. On Saturday morn-
ing, the 2 ist, we interrogated them again in relation to the
branch of the river, but without any success; and when we

ville qui a penetie le plus avant, m'a dit que tout etoit inonde dans le mois de
Mars et d'Avril, qu'il y avoit de petites hauteurs chez les Nahkitoch asses; peuplecs
oil le bled luy venoit a 1'epaule.

"A la fin de Mais Mr de St. Dems doit aller jusqu'aux Kad&dakiO) et nu lieu
dialler du coste des Sems ou les assassins de Mr de la Salic s'estoient lelhe/,, II
a dil piendie sur la gauche, et pou&sei jusqu'aux JK^zouahaa^ les plus cloigne/ que
1'on scache, oto Ton espere trouuer des mines II doit estie icy de ictoui a la fin
de ce mois, et s'll ne tiouue pas des mines d'argent, on n'*i xicn moms quo ce que
Ton cheiche dans Tetabhssement de Mississipi qui inonde toulcs les teiics A, plus
de 80 heurs de son embouchure a quelques petits cantons pres.

" Le loe nous auons dit la messe de St. Frangois Xaviei pour commence! la
devotion des 10 Venclredis. Le lendemain nous somnies aruveii a la Cioix qui
maique le village des Baioitgoula au noid du Mississipi, et & 40 lieucs des Moumas.
Comme les eaux out este* extraoidmaiiement hautes cctte annec, ellcs ont mine
le coteau de plus dc 10 pieds de long d'ou la Cioix est tonibee auec les tenes qui
se sont ^boulees, Je ne sins pas alle jusqu*au village ct ce n'est qu'a mon ictour
de JBiloccJn que j'ai visite les Baioitgoula, dont le chef a fait massacrer celuy des
Mongoulaeha auec plus de deux cents hommes dc cettc nation, qui ctoit foit
portee poui les Frai^ois et qui faisoit village auec les Baioitgoitla commc font les
Pioitanua avec les Kaskaskia Le sang de tant d'Innocents ciie vcngence, aussi
Dieu commence-t-il ^. les punir pai la famine et la maladie, ct ils doivent craindrc
que les JHoumax et les Kolapissas ne vengent le meurtie de tous leuis alliez: Je
n'ay nen vH de si gueux Je S9ay quelques mots de leur langue ; mais comme.
plus de deux tieis &oient absens du village, d'ou la faim les auoit cha&sez, je n'y
ay reste que 4 jouis, ils m'ont piomis de letablir la chapolle et de faire tout ce
que j'ay demand^, mais si le chef n'est bien loin de li il n'y a pas giande chose a
fane poui un Missionnane J'ay fait planter une grande Croix sur la coste a la
place de celle que les eaux ont emporte'e Elles ont crfi de vingt pied-a de
haut.

A 5 lieues plus basque le village on trouue au Nord un petit bias du Missis-

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA 89

were about to depart, the chief desired us to remain, as the
women were gathering millet for us, and as soon as they re-
turned would go with us to the river. Six of our men, feel-
ing apprehensions for our safety, came fully armed to join
us. We left them between eleven and twelve o'clock. On
going out from the cabin of the chief, we gave him a salute

sippi dont parle Mi de la Salle ; qu'il dit auoir plus de 30 bi asses d'eau, et est
foit commode pour les giands vaisseaux , mais, Mr Iberuille qui a fait visiter et
sonder, n'y a pas trouue d'eau pourune chalouppe* Plus nou& approchons du has
du Mississipi, plus nous allons a Test et a Test sud est , nous trouuons aussy plus
de com ants et de mediants Cabannaeje, et dans les aunages toujours de la terre
glaise , ou bien il nous faut entrer bien auant dans le bois ou il est difficile de
penetier et de n'y pas trouuer d'erabarras de Cannes, d'ofr Ton ne peut se
ther.

"Depuis les Natches nous n'auons vecu que de bled d'Inde auec quelques
citrouilles. Car il y a longtemps qu'on ne voit en ces quartiers n'y bceuf n'y che-
vreuil ni Ouis , et ft Ton a tiouve quelques outardes ou oyes sauuages, elles
etoient si maigies, qu'elles n'auoient pas plus de goust que du bois, ce qui a fait
soupner bien des fois tous nos canoteurs apres la rimeie des lhnois t et pour la
beaute du pays et des debaiquements, et de la quantite de boeufs et de cheuiemls
et de toutes soites de gibier gras et excellents. C'estune nauigation bien longue
que celle du Mississipi, bien ennuyante et bien difficile surtout a remonter, et
bien incommode a cause des coussms et autres mouches appelees maringouins,
brulcvts et moustiques, et des grandes pluyes, les chaleurs excessives, les mechants
debarquements dans la boue et dans la terre glaise, souuent jusqu'a rm-janibe et
pour la mechante chere. Si Ton ne part auec un Canot a demi charge de viures,
on doit s'attendre a bien jeuner, et j'ay de la peine a cioire uue nos sauuages d'en
haut et du pais des Illinois viennent cherche icy des marchandises de si loin auec
tant de peine et tant de risque La pirogue des JBaiougoulas que nous auons
rencontre ne faisoit pas plus de 3 ou 4 lieues par jour. Us etoient mal vetus pour
la saison, Car ils n'auoient qu'une demie peau de Cheureil pour se gaiantir du
froid, encore y auoit-il une vieille qui etoit si miserable qu'elle n'auoit qu'un peu
de mousse pour se couurir. Plusieuis vieilles gens parmi tous ces sauuages n'ont
pas d'autres habits.

"Je suis enfin arriue le I7e Decemb. 1700, au fort de Mississipi, apres 6S

90 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1699.

with our guns. At the last cabins we gave a second, and
having reached the summit of the hill, we gave a third. The
Indians who accompanied us did so also ; and the women
wept bitterly at our departure. At one o'clock we arrived
at our camp, and gave our people an account of all that hap-
pened the day previous. They offered the women to our

jours de namgation en descendant. Ce premier ctabhssement est an fud de ce
fleuue a 18 lieues de son embouchuie, II n'y a ni foil n'y bastion, n'y leticnche-
ments m redoutes, tout consiste en une battene de C pieces de canon, de 6 et
de 8 dressee sur le boid de la Coste, et en 5 ou 6 Cabannes fc'pau'es les uncs des>
auties couueites de lalamers Le Commandant Mr de Biciivillc y a une petite
maison assez piopre ; Je me suis appeiceu en anmant qu'on commeneuit \ ciicr
a la faim, et que les faunes commenjoient i manquer, ce qui m'a oblige pour
n'estie pas a chaige & personne de me mettie aux viures sauuages, et de me con-
tentei de bled-d'Inde fans viande n'y poisson, jusqu'i Vamuce des vai.sseaux
qu'on n'attend gueies qu'a la fin de Mais, si Ton ctabht le Mississipi Ton
transpoitera Je fort, ou plustot on le fera aux Baiougoulash 40 lieues plus haut
car les giandes eaux debordent si fuiieusement icy qu'ils ont estc 4 mois dans
Teau, et souuent jusqu'i mi-jambe hors de leurs Cabannes quoique les Sauuagcs
les eussent asseuiez que ce lieu n'mondoit jamais Le bled qu'on auoit feme
icy etoit deji assez haut quand 1'lnondaon, qui se fit d'un fimcux coup de mer
dans le mois d'Aoust 1'emporta Le jaidmage n'a gueies mieux icussi, outre
qu'il y a une grande quantite de serpents noiis qui mangcnt les laictllcs at les
autres legumes jusqu'i la lacme. Pour ce qui e&t du foit de RikccM i lieues
d'icy, outie que 1'air y est meilleur, le pais plus decouvert 1'on y fait toutc suite
de jaidmages. Le cheureuil en est tout pioche et il y a ties bonne chassc ; et
pour y tempeier la chdleur qui y seioit excessive, tous les jours une heurc ou
deux auant midy, il vienc un ventde la mer qu'ih appellent la brise qui iafraichit
1'air. II n'y a que 1'eau qui n'y est pas foit bonne C'est une petite source qui
la leur fouinit ; car celle de la Baye e&t plusque sommatie et n'e.st pas potable.
Cette baie qm donne le nom au foit, prend le sien cles sauvages Bilo<chis, qui
en sont les plus pioches, et s'appelle la baye de BikccJu II y a plus de 120
hommes dans ce fort bien ie"guliei auec 12 pieces de canon et autant dc pieiricis
braques fur les bastions ; II n'y a que les chalouppes et le tiaversier qui ne poite
pas 100 tonneaux qm puissent entrer dans cette baye, les vaisseaux n'en peuuent

l6 99] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA 91

officers, who politely thanked them. This was another mark
of their friendship, and of the alliance they desired to make
with us. Two hours after our return we saw the chief, ac-
companied with a great number of Indians, bringing with
them a large quantity of Indian corn, already prepared.

approcher que de 5 lieues et demeurent a la rade deuant une Isles, ou il
y a bon mouillage, et que s'appelle lisle des vaisseaux : II n'y a point de ports
dans tout ce pays que celuy des Pansacolas dont les Espagnoles se sont emparez,
et ou ils ne s'estoient etablis que 3 semaines auant que Mr d'Iberville fut arrive
a la Coste Le fort de Bilocchi n'est eloigne que de 30 heues de celuy des
Espagnols, 1'entrepnse du gouverneur luy leussit mal 1'annee passee. S*estant
auance auec deux nauires, il fut suipris de trouuer 4 gros vaisseaux a la rade, et
une forte garnison au fort. II dit par galantene aux officiers qu'il visitoit la
coste pour en chasser les Anglois. Mr d'Iberville qui visitoit le Mississipi
auoit auerti de se menager auec les Espagnols et de bien recevoir le gouueineur
s'll venoit a son bord selon Fordre qu'il en auoit luy meme de la cour ; il fut
regale magmfiquement, Vive le Roy de France^ Vive le Roy d'JZspagftey Vive Mr
d'lbennlle, auec quantite de voices de canon, et en partant il laissa une lettre
poui Mr d'Ibenulle. C'estoit ses ppsitions dont il scauoit bien qu'on se
moqueroit. A peme eut il quitte nos vaisseaux, qu'il fut pris en pleine mer d'un
coup de vent qui fut ouvrir et perdre son vaisseau. II se sauua dans une
chaloupe avec, peu de gens et reuint a nos vaisseaux. Nos officiers faisant
paioitre auoir plus de deplaisir qu'ils n'en auoient, le recurent parfaitement bien,
Tequiperent genereusetnent de tout, et le firent reconduire dans une double
chaloupe auec toutes les rarn.es et chapeaux bas, jusqu'a son fort des Pansacolas,
A son depart il fut encore salue d'une decharge de toute nre artillerie. II a
este fait grand maitre de rartillerie d'Espagne, et son Major a este fait gouuer-
neur'qui a enuoye une chaloupe au fort de Bilocchi a Mr de Sauvol pour
reclamer 10 hommes par le Major nouveau, pretendant qu'ils auoient deserte
mais dans le fond ce n'estoit que pour visiter le fort qui ne les craint pas, et pour
venir chercher de la toile et de<> hardes ; car ils manquent de tous. Ils ont
achepte tout ce qu'ils ont trouue, et dit qu'ils reviendroient quand ils S9auroient
que nos vaisseaux seront arrivez, quoique Ton soit deja court de vlures du moins
de fanne fran9oise, car le Lard, les Poix et les fe'ues n'y manquent pas encore le
Gouverneur a fait cacher le bled d'Inde, et a fait paroitre du pain Franjois dans

92 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1699.

Each one bore a wooden cross in his hand, and made a sol-
emn procession around the one we had planted, throwing
tobacco upon it, and singing after their manner. They then
presented the calumet to our officers, and one of them ad-

tcms le fort, il a parfaitement regale le Majoi de volailles, cochon de kit ct
chevreuil, vm de Madeie , Veqmpage a etc legalee apiopoition el A. donnc an
Majoi toute sorte de rafiaichissements poiu son letour, et a fait piesent au
nouveau Gouveineur d'un fusil de grand pnx.

44 Au re&te pour allei d'icy au fort de Biloccln II faut fane en paitant un poi-
tage d'un bon demi quait de heue dans la vase et dans 1'eau jusqu'aux gcnoux,
et fane piovision d'eau autant qu'il en faut pom allei jusqu'a Bilotthi cai la
petite nvieie que Ton trouve & un quait de licue d'icy est sommatic, c'est a dire
qu'elle est melle'e d'Eau de mer, elle se dechaige dans un lac de 2 lieues do trav-
erse et apres avon count 5 on 6 heues au Sudest, sui la mer le long des Isles on
coupe au nordest, au laige des I&les ju&qu' 7 lielies du foit, qu'on gagne la teire
ferme que Ton suit jusqu'a 1'entiee de la Baye de Btlohhi, a la velie du foit r oil
il faut travel ber.

"J'y sms ainue le zer joux de 1'ann^e 1701,0^1 j'a^et^ bien 10911 ilu Gouuui-
neui yy aifreuttflt Pete du Ru. Outre Ics fonctions de missionic il fait
encore ceUes dAumonier d'une maniere ties edifiante. Je n'ay tvsM que Sjourr
auec luy et f ay estf onze jours time rendre uy par la finite de notre guide <jin a
erdu sa route^ et qui nous a fait manquer un vent favorable qui noin> cust iciulu
au fort le 36 joul, mais apres auoir confomme notie derme baniquo d'eau, nous
1'auons remplie d'eau soumatre, qui a fait plus de peme i mes Canotcuis qu'd
moy qui me suis accoutume' a ne gueie boire en voyage. Nous auons tons fait
mechante cheie , cai nous auons e&te' le'duits au seul bled d'Inde durant 4 jours
et il etott aussi dur apres auou bouilly toute la nuit dans cctte Eau soumatie (^ue
quand on le tnettoit clans la chaudieie. Nous allwns sur la mer on golfe J\fex-
ique cFIsle en Isle, et plus nous nauigtons plus nous nous ttoignons de iwtre route.
Dans cette extiemite n'ayant piesque plus d'eau soumatie, nous nous iccom-
mandasmes i Dieu. Je promis de faire une neusuame ^. I'honncur dc St. Fran-
5015 Xavier et de dire la messe en actions de giaces des que je seroK arriue au
fort. Le lendemain nous nous rembarquames dans notie canot et a une heuie
apies midy nous nous tiouuames i la pointe alen que nous auions doublee
depuis 4 jours, d'oii nou& auons coupe aux Isles du laige. Nous auons fait deux
grandes tiauersees de 5 heues au sud sud est et a la vette des bois du Mis&issipi

1699-] LOUIS! AN A AND FLORIDA. 93

dressed M. D'IBERVILLE for the space of half an hour. We
listened to them attentively, although \ve did not compre-
hend a single word they said. The youth danced until
midnight by the light of torches made from dried cane, and

nous sommes enfin graces a Dieu enties dans une riviere oil nous auons etanche
notre soif et qui nous a conduits a demi quart de lieue du Mississipi ou nous
sommes heureusemt ainuez et apres un demi quart de lieue de Portage nous nous
sommes tiouuez a 8 petites heues du fort ou nous sommes ainuez 1'onziemejour
de notre depart de Biloccht Sans la piotection de St. Fianjois Xaviei je ciois
que nous eussions encore long temps rode sans eau. Je suis party le lendemain
pour aller aux Baiougoulas qui sent 40 lieues plus haut , je n'y ay fait qu'une
partie de ce que je voulois y ayant tiouue peu de monde. Dieu m'a fait la giace
d'y baptiser un petit enfant de 2 ans moiibond a qui j'ay ouueit le ciel.

" Je suis de retoui dans ce foit depuis 4 jouis. L'amvee des vaisseaux qu'on
attend de jour en jour me determmera sur ce que je dois faire, si j'attendray
Varrivee de Mr d'Iberville, ou si je remonteray aux Illinois par les piemiers ca-
nots Au leste il n'y a pas de vaisseaux qui puisse en tier dans la riviere de
Mississipi s'll tire plus de 9 ou 10 pieds d'eau , Car il n'y en a qu'onze 4 1'em-
bouchure. L'entree passee, il n'y a pas de vaisseaux qui ne puissent naviguer
fort avant dans, cette riviere. II y a icy 15 a 16 brasses d'eau, la pluspait des
flutes qui n'en tirent que 9 pourroient y entrer bieu auant, Car le batiment An-
glois que Mr d'lberville trouva Tannee passee a 8 lieues d*icy tiroit encore
moms d'eau. Le capitaine auoit pour se conduire la relation de Mr de la Salle,
et de quelques autres fort mauvafs memoires qui font mention de Tembouchure
de ce fleuve Cet Anglois qui en parloit a Mr de Bienuille s'applaudissoit de ce
qu'il avoit pu tiouver 1'entree du Mississipi dont un de ceux qui en ont ecrit est
un apostat qui a presente au roy Guillaume la relation du Mississipi, ou il ne
fut jamais, et apres mille mensonges et de ndicules vanteries, II pretend faire
voir les justes pretentions et le droit incontestable que le Roy Guillaume a sur
le Mississipi etc. *****

" Priez Dieu pour nous, mon R. P. et croyez que je suis avec beaucoup de re-
spect dans Tamour de N, S.

" Mon reverend Pere,

"votre tres humble et tres

*' obeissant serviteur

" JACQUES GRAVIER/'

94 HISTORICAL COLLECTION'S OF [1699.

to the music of two sticks which they struck against each
other. During the evening, M. D'lBERVlLLE made them
numerous presents, among other things a beautiful embroid-
ered scarlet carpet, axes, hatches, etc. On their part, they
presented us with the skins of the bear and deer. During
the night more than forty of them returned to their village,
and brought back a quantity of corn, pumpkins, meat, and
fowls.

1699.]

LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA

93

CHAPTER VIII.

]N Sunday, the 22d, the chief of the Ba
yagoitlas made a speech to M. D'lBER
VILLE ; the chief of the Oumas did the
same; they then marched around our
cross, singing and throwing tobacco
upon it, from time to time, as if it were

incense. The preceding day M. D'!BERVILLE asked them if
it was yet very far from the branch of the river? but they
repeated, they had no knowledge of it., We drew a map of
the river with a pencil, and marked th( name of the nations
\vho dwelt upon its borders, but they still persisted in mani-
festing their ignorance of that which we sought for. We
thought the chief of the Bayagoulas had prevented them
from giving information, for the reasons already stated. We
asked them how far it was to the Coroas, a nation living on
the river abovje them, arid mentioned in the narrative of M.
DE LA SALLE. They gave us to understand it was nine days'
journey. We feigned a desire to go there for the purpose
of seeing an Indian who would go with us, and who was a
Temas, a nation living above the Coroas* About ten o'clock

96 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1699.

we embarked ; the chief of the Oumas, and some of his prin-
cipal men came to escort M. D'lBERVTLLK to the boats,
taking him by the arm for that purpose. The chief of the
Bayagoulas did tl\e same to M. DE SAUVOL, to whom they
extended the calumet. Eight of them, including the wife of
the chief, embarked in a canoe to accompany us to the village
of the Chclouels, who are their allies. M. D'lliRRVILLE, took
the Tensas with him, in order that he might point out to him
(la Fourche) the branch of the river, but he persisted in spy-
ing there was none. He gave us to understand that the On-
mas had been expecting us at their village for three days
past, and were waiting to entertain us. Their village is on
the other side of the river, in a direct line not over two short
leagues distant ; whilst to follow the course of the river the
distance is eighteen leagues. He also traced for us the course
of the river, the nations who dwell upon its borders and its
tributaries. We landed again after having gone about a
league for the double purpose of dining and again interroga-
ting them relative to the branch of the river, but they still
insisted there was none. After two hours' reflection M.
D'IBERVILLE resolved to proceed no farther, but to return to
the ships. At three o'clock we embarked in our boats and
landed at the Dumas. As soon as we arrived M, DK BlKN-
VILLE and two Canadians set out for their village, which is
about two leagues distant on the bank of the river. The
route t'hither is very difficult ; nevertheless, they arrived
there at six o'clock. They found there the chief of the
Bayagoulas, whom we had left on the river bank when we

1699-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA. 97

parted. We told them, if they desired to come with us to
their village, we would start early next morning, and that it
was for this purpose that we were come to the village of the
Onmas. They promised us to be ready early in the morn-
ing, and descend the river with us. They then departed, and
we retired to our tents at eight o'clock. They told us the
women wept at our departure, sympathizing with the diffi-
culties we had encountered in so long a voyage. A short
time after, three women arrived with a load of pumpkins.
M. D'IBERYILLE presented them with some strings of small
bells, and they promised to return in the morning.

On Monday, the 23d, the chief of the Oumas, with two of
his principal men, came, holding a small wooden cross in
their hands, and marched around our cross, upon which they
threw tobacco ; and soon afterwards, all the inhabitants of
the village arrived, some bringing Indian corn, others millet,
which we accepted. Then the chief presented the calumet
to our officers. M. D'IBERVILLE presented to them hatchets,
knives, mirrors, beads, etc., in exchange for their grain.
They thanked us after their fashion, by uttering three times,
hoit ! hou / hou ! Their village is composed of about six or
seven hundred persons, who are more civilized and honest
than the first. M. DE TONTY remained among them some
time, when he came down the river in search of M. DE LA
SALLE in the month of April, 1686. They placed their dead
upon elevated platforms, as was done in the other villages.
When any of them are taken sick, the others sing around
him to drive away the evil spirits. The place where we

9 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1699.

landed was elevated ten or twelve feet above the water, but
is inundated more than a foot deep at the period of high
waters, coming from the mountains and melting of the snow,
\\hich generally happens towards the end of April, or the
beginning of May, and by more than two hundred streams
and rivers, which discharge their waters into this. In its
course it tears out great trees by their roots which are carried
away by the current. We met with a multitude of them
on islands far distant from the mouth of the river. At six
o'clock we went on board of our boats. The chief took MM,
D'IBERVILLE and SAUVOL by the arm and conducted them
on board. We shouted three times " Vive le roi /" and they
responded after their fashion. This day we made thirteen
leagues upon our journey, and saw that we had shortened
our route by the portage we made on the i8th more than
six leagues, although the distance across was not more than
one hundred paces from one side of the river to the other.
At six o'clock we encamped ; we boiled the pot, with a deer
which had been killed in crossing the river by those who
were in the bark canoes. It rained nearly all day, which
caused the Bayagoula Indians, who were with us, to stop
about two o'clock.

On Tuesday, the 24th, about six o'clock, we again em-
barked. Having gone four leagues, we found the canoe and
the Indians, who had stopped on account of the rain. They
had crossed the portage and abridged their route. At three
o'clock we encountered a small stream, in which there was
but little current, and had the appearance of a lake. The

l6 99-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA 99

Indians pointed it out to us, and told us this was the route
to the sea, nearly opposite \\here our vessels were anchored,
but that it was necessary to make several portages. We walk-
ed on foot to its entrance. M. D'lBERVlLLE went down it a
piece to see if it would admit our long-boats ; but seeing that
it was clogged up by logs and dead trees fallen across, he re-
solved to send us by the way we had come, whilst he took
the resolution to proceed by this channel * with two bark
canoes. He took one Indian with him and gave orders for
presents to the chief of the Bayagoulas. He carried some with
him to present to the Ananis and the Mouloubis, who in-
habit the borders of this river, in order to make an alliance
with them. This small channel has its course E. S. E. and
W. N. W. It is four leagues above the village of the 3Ion-
goitlachas* The starboard point upon entering has about
ten feet elevation, at the extremity of which is a large tree.
The larboard point is lower, not having more than five feet
above the water. It is about ten paces wide at its entrance.
About seven o'clock we arrived at the village of the Mongou-
lachas y and fired a swivel to notify the Indians of our arrival,
although we were in sight of the village. Many of the
Indians came to us singing, and presented the calumet to
M. DE SAUVOL. They informed us that the two lost men
were at their village, which gave us joy inexpressible, for we
feared that they were lost forever. During the interval the
wallet of Father ANASTASIUS, in which was his breviary,

* The river, or small stream, was afterwards known by the name of Ibervific.

100 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

was lost, together with a manuscript narrative of all that
had passed during the voyage. He thought it had been
stolen from him by an Indian, who had embarked with us
from the Ouwas, because he had his eyes constantly fixed
upon it. This loss rendered him inconsolable.

On Wednesday, the 25th, the day of the Annunciation of
the Holy Virgin, at six o'clock in the morning, Father
AXASTASIUS returned to the village with our officers, they
for procuring provisions, he for the purpose of hunting up
his breviary^ He made complaint to the chief that some of
those who had visited our tents in the morning had stolen
his breviary. The chief comprehended him and called out
for his people to assemble, which they did immediately. He
asked if any of them had found the wallet. At the same
time Father ANASTASIUS began weeping to arouse their
sympathies. These poor people appeared very much dis-
concerted, and looked at each other in astonishment. Finally,
as it could not be found, Father ANASTASIUS was obliged to
return after having wept in vain at all their cabins. We
gave the chief to understand that our officers were waiting
for him at the bank of the river. They signified that they
were pulling corn to bring to us, to make bread with,
and whilst waiting we made an exchange of a gun for a
young Indian slave of twelve or thirteen years of age ; we
also gave them some powder and balls. This poor child,
although she was a slave, wept bitterly at parting with these
savages.

Early next morning we again visited the village, when the

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. IOI

chief of the Mongoiilachas gave to M. DE SAUVOL a letter
from M. DE TONTY, written from the nation of the Quin-
nipissas, in the month of April, 1686, addressed to II. DE
LA SALLE, in which he stated that he had descended the river
with twenty-five Frenchmen, five Illinois, and five Chaouanons,
who dwelt upon the Illinois River, where M. DE LA SALLE
had built Fort St. Louis. There were in all thirty-five men.
He mentioned, that having learned that his vessels were
lost and that he was at war with the savages on the sea-
board, he had descended to bring him relief. He gave him
all the news from Canada, and concluded by stating that he
had made peace with all the tribes through which he had
passed. M. DE LA SALLE had previously left France, in
1684,* to seek for the mouth of the River Mississippi, in the
Gulf of Mexico, and having gone beyond it (as we have seen
from the journal of the pilot who was with him), he did not
recognize it. Moreover, he had descended the river at a
time when the country was overflowed, and returned when
the waters were low, which caused him to deviate from his
true course more than eighty leagues to the west The in-
habitants of Sf. Domingo had told him that the tides would
carry him in an easterly direction ; a fact which is true of
the Bahama Channel; but when on-e has entered the gulf,
the tides have westerly bearing, a circumstance which was
the cause of his error and misfortune. Finally, M. DE TONTV

* JOUTEL'S Historical Journal of M DE LA SALLE'S last Voyage, in 1684, to
discovei the mouth of the Mississippi. Historical Coll. of Louisiana, vol. I
pp. 85-195

102 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF 1^99-

returned, contenting himself with leaving this letter,* and
another one eight leagues from the sea, suspended upon
a tree. He had sent two canoes, one to the eastward, the
other to the \\ est. They traversed over twenty-five leagues,
but according to their narrative, the want of fresh water
obliged them to return.

The chief had also some engravings ; a A T ew Testament, a
gitn and a letter. He preserved them all very car ef idly. M.
DE SAUVUL gave him some hatchets and knives for the
letter, but left with him the engravings and the New Testa-
ment. He gave him, also, some powder. The chief did
not want to show us this letter when we ascended the river,
as he took us to be Spaniards. At ten o'clock we set out in
our boats to return to our ships. We took with us our two
men who were lost, and whom the savages found on the
bank of the river, on their return from hunting. We saw
those same hunters on the 7th, the time our men got lost.
They remained two days in the woods, among thick cane-
brakes, unable to find the bank of the river, because of its
windings and the thick growth of underbrush. They sub-
sisted upon snakes after cutting off the head and tail, as they
could find nothing else to eat. After two days they found
the place of our encampment and remained there for some
time. They then followed the bank of the river, ascending,
because they knew there was a village not very far distant,

Histoncal Collections of Louisiana and Honda," part L, pp. 30-40. Also
" M. BE TOJJTY'S Memoir, from 1678 to 1691," pp 53-78.

I6Q9-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 1 03

as we had been informed by the Indians \\e had met below.
The same day they saw two canoes descending the river and
hailed them. The Indians landed, gave them corn and meat,
and told them to remain there until their return in two or
three days, when they would take them back with them.
They returned on the iSth, and brought them to the village,
\vhere they were supplied with sagamite, corn bread, and
pumpkins, cooked upon coals. They made signs to them
not to eat too much, for fear it might not agree with them.
The chief treated them with the greatest kindness in the
world, and even offered to go home with them himself, to our
ships ; this offer was made upon condition that we did not
return this way. At six o'clock we encamped about two
leagues below the place where our men were lost. We made
twelve leagues this day.

104

HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

[1699.

CHAPTER IX.

ijN Thursday, the 26th, we started at four
o'clock in the morning, having break-
fasted upon sagamite, which we had
cooked the night before, together with
some provisions remaining of those we
had obtained from the Oumas. At five
o'clock we landed upon the starboard side (right bank), hav-
ing made nineteen leagues this day. On Friday, the 27th,
we landed at five in the evening, having gone sixteen
leagues. The bread we had was so sour and mouldy that it
was almost impossible to eat of it. On Saturday, the 28th,
we pursued our route at six o'clock, and at teh found two
outlets or arms of water which ran nearly parallel with each
other, one running S., the other S. E. M. BE BIENVILLE
stopped at the forks to wait for us. He asked M. DE SAU-
VOL if he wished to make soundings in descending to the
sea, who replied that it was not necessary, as the sea was
already in sight on the west, and the other outlets appeared
to be obstructed by small islands and trunks of trees.
M. B'IBERVILLE had given him orders to sound the passes,

1699-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 1 05

more particularly that which discharges itself to the east-
ward, and which was a half league lower down. We, in fact,
found it about a half hour afterward. It is divided into
two passes, and runs directly N. N. E. and E. We took
the one to the west, and upon sounding at the entrance
found eight fathoms, but an instant after we grounded.
The boat rounded to, on account of the rapidity of the cur-
rent passing out to the sea. The other boat following,
grounded and made fast in the river. One of our men
jumped into the water and carried a cable to them, by which
it was hauled off. We remained here some time to take
the altitude and discover the exact latitude of the mouth,
which was only two and a half leagues from that spot. We
made it 28 41'. Descending a little lower down, we landed
to pitch our tents. Our men went out hunting, and killed
some ducks. We found a species of wild cat, rather larger
than those of Europe, with a head somewhat resembling a
fox's. We killed them with clubs. They had a strong
fishy flavor, as they live upon them and such birds as they
can catch. I believe they are amphibious.

On Sunday, the 29th, we embarked with a light breeze
from the E. S. E. As we approached the pass we found the
depth of water diminishing gradually from six, four, and
three fathoms, and passed into fourteen, thirteen, and eleven
feet of water in the middle of the channel, which was not
more than a pistol-shot in breadth. There were breakers on
both sides. We steered directly east in going out. We
saw eight passes in going out. The two to the north ap-

106 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

peared filled with breakers everywhere, which obliged us to
take the one to the south, where I believe in low water
there ought to be twelve feet of water; but there is now
two feet of bank (or levee), caused by the sea being always
rough, on account of the depth of water and the rapidity of
the current. In going out of this pass we found from fifteen
to sixteen feet of water.

When we got a little sea-room we steered directly N.
along the mud mounds, which seem nearly to barricade
the entire entrance, which here lies N. and S. We dis-
covered a bay that runs W. and N. W. We steered N. W.
for t\\o leagues, the wind ranging E. and N. E., weather fine.
Towards noon we saw, from the topmast, an island which we
could not clear on account of the wind. One league from
this island, in a westerly direction, we saw breakers running
S. W., and when we were in musket-shot of the point, being
very much embarrassed, as we could not see the land, al-
though the weather was clear, we resolved to pass between
the breakers, and in case of touching bottom, to throw our-
selves into the sea and shove off our boats, which, thank
God, we were not obliged to do ; for we passed them very
easily, although slightly touching. One of our men went up
the mast to see if there was any other island on which we
could encamp for the night. He only saw one, which appeared
large and full of lakes. We had much difficulty in reaching
the shore. There were many fish of the species of the sting
^ray, armed with a dart, by which one of our sailors was
wounded. The puncture was so dangerous that he feared

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. IOJ

he would lose his leg, and it was two months before he was
able to walk. This island, from its center, was ten leagues
N. E. from the mouth of the river.

On Monday, the 3Oth, the crews of the two boats pushed
them off one after the other, as, the sea having subsided, they
were hard aground. We sailed directly north, with little
wind and no land in sight on either side. At eight o'clock we
saw a large island before us. At nine o'clock we were oppo-
site to it. It is distant and extends about three leagues
north from the last one. Towards noon the wind sprang up
and we made N. E., to pass between two small submerged
islands, which we had left to the starboard of us. At four
o'clock we reached an island which appeared two leagues in
length. There were several small, islands to the larboard of
us, which are nothing but a portion of the main land. As
we approached we saw a point making into the open sea,
which we doubled by steering N. N. E. Afterwards we made
N. y N. W., for an island which was two leagues in advance
of us, where we arrived at six o'clock. As the wind had
freshened, we made for the leeward point, where there was
a shell-bank about seven feet high, and a quantity of salt
thrown up by the sea in time of storms. We threw up a
shelter for the night, but the musquitoes were so troublesome
that they nearly devoured us, although we kindled fires to
drive them away. At nine o'clock we saw a large fire to the
N. W. J^ W. of us, at a great distance off. "We could not
tell if it was on an island or on the main land. Our progress
this day was fifteen leagues north.

IOS HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1699.

On Tuesday, March 3 1st, we set sail, wind E. S. E. We
steered X. N. W., for fear of missing our ships, and in order
to reconnoiter the river , after proceeding an hour alternately
by oar and sail, we saw a cluster of islands which formed a
kind of bay, through which there appeared to be a pass.
They seemed to form a counter coast and were nearly con-
tiguous to the main land. Those to the N. E. appeared high,
covered with large trees. We recognized them as the islands
lying two leagues to the west of our shipping, a circum-
stance that gave us great joy, being about to end the misery
we had suffered during this long and painful voyage. After
having doubled this island we saw the two ships to the east
of us; and were obliged to bend to the oars, as the wind was
directly ahead, and strong enough to raise a jiarge swell of
the sea. We reached 4 our ships a little after midday. We
learned that M. D'lBERVILLE had arrived on board his

7

frigate that morning, with the two baik canoes, which we
had left behind more than sixty leagues up the river. He

had made his way through a small body of water which

i

discharges itself nearly opposite our vessels, and is nothing
more than a lake. They were obliged to make more than
eighty portages, on account of the vast number of fallen
trees that crossed each other in every direction in this small
channel (canal). They told us they had run great risks from
the numerous crocodiles that swarmed in those lakes. They
said also that they had seen hundreds of buffaloes. The
same day 3VL D'IBERVILLE detached MM. DE SAUVOL, DE
LA VlLLANTRAY, and DES OuRDYS, ensigns, to sound a river

l6 99'l LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. log

lying ten leagues to the east of our anchorage, in order to
establish a small colony there, as he was unable to find a
suitable place upon the river on account of its overflows.

On Wednesday, April 1st, the felucca returned with the
report that there was not sufficient water to land. On
Thursday, the 2d, MM. D'lBERVlLLE, and DE SAUVOL went
with two feluccas to sound the coast and a river to the west
of us, where he had passed after leaving us in the Mississippi.
On Friday, the 3d, at ten o'clock at night, our officers arrived
on board, after much difficulty, having deviated fiom their
route by reason of the thick fog prevailing, and having
passed the island where we were anchored, and not being
able to distinguish the light. we had placed on the mizzen top-
mast. The sea was so rough, they came near being lost in
the small boats. Saturday, the 4th, the wind blew so strong
from the north as to prevent our gun-boats and long-boats
from taking their departure for the river which is ten leagues
to the eastward of us, there being no other suitable place
found along the coast to effect a landing. On Sunday, the
5th, at seven o'clock, MM. D'lBERVlLLE, DE SURGiiRES, and
the other chief officers, took their departure in two feluccas,
with forty men, from each ship, soldiers, as well as carpen-
ters and sailors, with a number of axes and other iron instru-
ments, to clear away the trees on the bank of the river which
M. DE SAUVOL DE LA VILLANTRAY had discovered.

On Monday, 6th, MM. DE L'ESQUELET and BIENVILLE
returned, and reported that the place was unsuitable for an
establishment, as there was not a sufficiency of water on

110 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

the bar to permit the long-boats to pass over, which gave a
great deal of uneasiness to 11. D'lBERVILLE and the other
officers. On Tuesday, the jth, MM. D'lBERVILLE and SUR-
GERES went in search of a place, and observed an elevated
situation that appeared very suitable. They sounded and
found seven to eight feet water, which induced thfem to
cross \\ith their boats, and construct the fort there, as they
could find no spot more convenient, and our provisions
failing, we could search no longer. On Wednesday, the $t/i,
we commenced to ait away the trees preparatory for the
construction of the fort. All our men worked vigorously,
and at the end of the month it was finished. In the mean
time, the boats were actively . engaged transporting the
powder, guns, and ammunition, as well as the live stock,
such as bulls, cows, hogs, fowls, turkeys, etc. In fact, every-
thing was taken from the ships that could be spared, leaving
only what was absolutely necessary for our return to France.
On Palm Sunday, the i2th, Father ANASTASIUS went on
shore with M. DE BEAUHARNAIS, ensign, at four o'clock in
the morning, to perform the ceremony of Mass to our people
who were working at .the fort ; but the wind rising, they
were obliged to put back. The wind slacking at eleven
o'clock they set off in the long-boat. At two o'clock M. DE
SuRGiRES returned in a felucca. On Holy Thursday, the
1 6th, Father ANASTASIUS went on shore with M. DE BEAU-
HARK AIS to administer the Holy Sacrament to those working
at the fort. The long-boat was laden with guns and balls.
Scarcely had they gone a league from the ships when the

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA III

wind sprang up with great violence, and the rain fell in
torrents, so as to render it necessary for two men to keep
bailing the boat, which came within little of being swamped.
We wished ourselves on board of the ships ; nevertheless,
we kept on our route and arrived at the fort at t\vo o'clock.
The rain continued from Friday, the i/th, to Saturday, the
1 8th, and poured down as if the flood-gates of heaven were
opened , the waters of the lake for some distance around
were fresh several days from the heavy rains, a thing almost
inconceivable, but true.

On Easter Sunday, the ipth, Father ANASTASIUS confessed
all those who presented themselves; he then performed
Mass, and afterwards Vespers, and delivered a sermon.

On Monday, the 2oth, at eleven o'clock. Father ANASTA-
SIUS, having finished confessing, departed with M. DE L'Es-
QUELET for the ships, to administer the Sacrament to all
those who had not yet received it. We continued to work
actively on the fort, and to designate those who were to
remain there. For that purpose the very best men were
selected, with two detachments of soldiers to place with the
Canadians and workmen, and the sailors who were to serve
on the gunboats. M. DE SAUVOL DE LA VlLLANTRAY,* Lieu-

* It does not appear, fiom the letters or journal of M. DE SAUVOL DE LA
VILLANTRAY, that he was a biother of M. D'!BERVLILE, although often so stated
by Ameucan histoiians. M. DE SAU\OL'S life in Louisiana was shoit , he died
at Fort Afaurepas, BiloAt, of >ello\v fever, Aug 2ist, 1701, during the absence of
M. D'IBERVILLE in Fiance He left an interesting journal of what took place
fiom his arnval in Louisiana up to within a few days of his death; "which
has been published in the third volume, first series., of the Htstomal Collections
of Louisiana, pp. 223-240.
9

112 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF C l6 99-

tenant of a company, and naval ensign of the frigate La
Mann, was made Governor; M. DE BlENVILLE of the marine
guard of the frigate La Badme next in command , and after
him M. LEVASSEUR, a Canadian.

On Friday, the rst May, and Saturday, the 2d, we brought
on board those who had been working. The fort was made
<with four bastions? two of them of squared logs, from two to
three feet thick, placed one upon the other, with embrasures
for port holes \ and a ditch all around. The other two bastions
Tuere stockaded with heavy timbers which took four men to hft
one of them. Ti\iefoc guns were mounted*

* M D*!BERVILLE having now built a foit and founded his colony at the bay
of Jfifoja, as the most convenient place to establish commercial relations with
the Indian tribes of the country, the West India Islands, Mexico and Euiope ,
he set sail for France, but did not return until the following year, when he was
informed by M. DE SAUVOL that two English armed ships had enteied the nver
to establish a colony on the banks of the Mississippi But on being infoimed
that it uas n$t that rner, they sailed back to the Gulf, and went to the piovmce
of Paniuo to establish a colony there, which they failed to effect, and afteiwaids
returned to England. In the meantime, for the safety of the colony, M. D'!BER-
VILLE ordered another fort to be built on the banks of the nver, and returned to
France for more colom&ts and pro\isions.

1699-]

LOUISIANA AA~> FLORIDA

CHAPTER X.

N" Sunday, the 3d, M. DE SAUVOL came on
board at eight o'clock in the morning to
bid farewell! He debarked on the gun-
boat and in parting gave three cheers
of "Vfcff le *roi" After his departure
M. D'IBERVILLE unfurled his top sails,
and we immediately hoisted anchor, although the wind was
contrary. We cast anchor again in the evening, afterwards
we set sail again, proceeding slowly, as we were obliged to
tack about frequently. Nothing of importance transpired on
the 20th, except that we met a small English vessel. We
then passed the Dry Tortugas and Matansas* On Friday,
the 22d, we perceived three ships, and waited to follow them,
because no one on board had ever passed up the Bahama
channel As they approached they hoisted the English flag,
and we hoisted the French flag. The admiral hoisted his
broad pennant, and asked where we were from. We replied
" From St. Domingo:' He then asked us if the captain of
the King's ship that was wrecked, was on board. He then
hailed the Badine to know if we were in company, and asked

114 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

where she v.as from. M. D'lBERVILLE replied that he was
from the Mississippi, otherwise called the Malbouchia by the
Indians. Seeing that we gave different names, he took us
for corsairs, and as night was approaching, he fired a gun as
signal for the rest of the fleet to keep close to him and be
upon their guard. On Saturday, the 23d, M. D'IBERVILLE,
\\ ishing to approach the English admiral, the latter made a
signal that he would fire upon him. In fact, we saw that
the port-fires were prepared. They would have been beau-
tifully accommodated if they had commenced the action.
After a while they recognized us and made all sorts of pro-
fessions of friendship, offering to render us any service m
their power that we might need. From that time we fol-
lowed them, the wind directly ahead, being forced to keep a
strict look-out.

On Monday* the 25th, strong breeze ahead. At noon we
broke our rudder and hoisted the red flag. In less than an
hour repaired damages. The English admiral sent a boat on
board to know if we required any assistance. We informed him
that we had broken our rudder, but had made all right, and
thanked him for his polite offer. We soon after learned that
a similar accident happened to M. D'IBERVILLE. We were
not done yet. About five o'clock, as we were going to sup-
per, we heard three guns fired from the admiral, to notify us
that we were running upon the sand-banks. In fact, we
had scarcely time to tack about, as the bottom was in full
sight ; we were much alarmed, and, without joking, were
well pleased to be in English company, and guided by their

1699-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA. 113

maneuvers, in this channel. On Tuesday, the 26th, we saw
the danger we had passed through, and thanked God for our
safe deliverance. All our men were much fatigued, having
been constantly on duty. The wind becoming favorable,
we parted company with the English, our frigates sailing
much faster than theirs. We kept our com^se E. N. E , with
fine weather up to the loth of June.

On Wednesday, the loth June, the wind blew from the S.
W., and at midnight it blew so violently, that we reefed top-
sails, and left nothing but the mainsails. Towards noon
the gale increased to- such a degree that we were obliged to
reef the mainsails, and run before the wind under bare
poles. At two o'clock the ship was ungovernable, and
shipped water so that everything was afloat upon the lee-
ward ports. The sailors were so worn out with fatigue they
could do nothing. We tore away the poop and threw it
overboard, and would have done the same with the guns,
had we not feared being capsized. Finally, having struggled
three quarters of an hour between two seas, without obeying
the helm, she came around and righted herself. We all
thought our last day upon earth had arrived. Two of our
men were drowned from the water which penetrated our
port-holes. The Badinc was not so unfortunate as we were.
She had separated from the Jlfarm, and we did not see her
again until our arrival at Roche fort. After this storm we had
fair winds, and cast anchor in the roads of Chebot^^ on
Tuesday, the last day of June.

On Wednesday, July 1st, we transported our sick to the

Il6 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ l6 99-

hospital at Rochtfort. It was time that we had returned,
as two-thirds of our men were sick and unfit for duty ; and
on the following day (Thursday), the 2d, we weighed anchor
and went to the island of Aix, and afterwards entered the
harbor of Rochcfort* France, for further orders.

XOTE. Instructions were issued for a third voyage to
Louisiana, dated August 27, 1701, and in the following June,
1702, II. D'lBERVlLLE returned to France. A war broke out
afterwards between France, Spain, and England, and when
about to set sail a fourth time for the Mississippi, at the close
of the year 1704, he was taken seriously ill at Rochelle, and
was unable to leave France until the Spring of 1706. On
reaching the West Indies, he attacked and captured the
island of Nevis, and on arriving before Havana, the same
year, he died of yellow fever, after a short illness, the colony
having thus lost in him a hero worthy of their admiration
and regret.

ADDENDA.

The death of M. D'lBERVlLLE was severely felt by the colo-
nists, and the more so as, during the long interval of absence
from the colony until his death, jealousies were excited among
the several colonial authorities which proved prejudicial to
the growth of the colony. Even under these adverse circum-
stances the colony received more from the bounty of Louis
XIV. than was contributed by all the English monarchs
together, for the twelve English colonies on the Atlantic
coast.

1 699. ] LO UISIANA AXD FLORIDA 1 1 7

The number of colonists still exceeded that of Jamestown,
in Virginia, and Plymouth, of Massachusetts. France took
possession of Texas, and by no treaty or public document,
except the general cession of Louisiana, nor did she ever after
relinquish her right to that country as colonized under her
banners, and more surely a part of her territory, because the
colony found there its grave. And notwithstanding the
French had been more than once frustrated by Spain in their
attempts to form a settlement on the bay of St. Bernard
(Matagorda), yet the French continued their efforts, and
sent for this purpose M. DE LA HARPE in 1/21, under a Royal
order, with troops, engineers, and draftsmen, to make a more'
accurate survey of the country than had been done by his
predecessors.

He found at the entrance to the bay twelve feet of water on
the bar, and four large rivers falling into it, also the country
fertile and beautiful ; and on the coast of this bay he planted
the arms of France, and took formal possession, in the name
of his Sovereign, the right of France to it having been de-
rived from the actual discovery, settlement, and possession
of M. DE LA SALLE, in 1685. (See Joutel^ Tonty, and La
Harpes Historical Journals, published ^n vols. I and 3 of the
first series of tJie Historical Collections of Louisiana.)

France was too feeble to stretch her colonies at this time
far to the west of the Mississippi river, but her rights were es-
teemed so clear that in time of peace the attempt to occupy
the country was renewed. This second attempt of M. DE LA
HARPE to plant a colony near the bay of Matagorda had no

US HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ l6 99-

other result than to incense the natives against the French,
and to stimulate the Spaniards to the occupation of the coun-
try by forts. Yet the French ever regarded the mouth of the
Rio del Xorte as the western limit of Louisiana.

After the purchase of Louisiana from France, in 1803, a
negotiation took place in 1804 between the United States and
Spain, to determine the southwestern boundary of Louisiana ;
but the claims of the former were regarded to be inadmissi-
ble, and the discussions were broken off. Finally, in 1819, the
discussion was renewed at the request of Spain, in relation
to the Flondas, as well as the boundary line of Louisiana ;
and the only authorities produced on the part of the United
States, of the slightest value, were the journal of LA SALLE'S
expedition to Texas, by JOUTEL, in 1685 ; the letters of
LA HARPE ; and the orders of Governor BlENVlLLE, pub-
lished in vol. 3 of the first series of the " Historical Collections
of Louisiana ;" while Spain showed that, in 1698, she built
the Presidio of San Antonio dc Bcxar 3 and in 1716, that of
Espiritii Santo, subsequently called Goliad, and claimed the
territory watered by the Guadaloupe, and all to the west of it,
by which she obtained an undisputed right, both by occupa-
tion and discovery, as LA SALLE never went far to the west
of the Colorado river, while to the east of the Colorado, on
account of his discovery, could any French claim be possibly
set up. Louisiana remained a French colony until 1763. By
the treaty of Pans, on the loth of February, of that year,
made between England, France, and Spain, the countries of
Nova Scotia, Canada, and Cape Breton were ceded to Eng-

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. lig

land, and the limits of the remaining French settlements on
the west were irrevocably fixed by a line drawn along the
middle of the river Mississippi from its sources to the river
Iberville, and from thence by a line drawn along the middle
to this river and the lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain to the
sea. The river and fort of Mobile, and everything which
France possessed being ceded, except the town of New Or-
leans, and the island on which it is situated. By the twenti-
eth article of the same treaty, Spain ceded to England Flor-
ida, with fort St. Augustine, and the bay of Pensacola, and
all that it possessed on the continent of North America, to
the E. or S. E. of the river Mississippi.

By a secret treaty of Nov. 3, '1762, signed the same day on
which the preliminaries of peace between Great Britain,
France, and Spain were signed, in \vhich France ceded to
Spain " all the country known under the name of Louisiana,
as also New Orleans and the island on which it is situated "
that is, so much of Louisiana as had not been agreed to be
transferred by France to Great Britain.

On the 3d September, 1783, by the treaty made with Spain,
East and West Florida were ceded by Great Britain, and
Spain thus became again possessed of these, her ancient col-
onies. By the treaty also made on the 3d September, 1783,
between Great Britain and the United States of America, the
independence of these States was recognized, and their north-
western, western, and southern boundaries were defined. In
October, 1800, Louisiana was retroceded by Spain to France,
" with the same extent that it now has in the hands of Spain,

120 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

and that it had when France possessed it, and such as it
should be after the treaties subsequently entered into be-
tween Spain, and other States." It was an act of retroces-
sion, but it transferred so much less than France originally
held, as had been shorn from it by the treaty of 1763, which
gave to Great Britain, and through Great Britain to the
United States, nearly the entire eastern bank of the Missis-
sippi. In 1803, France sold Louisiana to the United States,
the entire country originally held by her, and retroceded by
Spain. In 1804 a negotiation took place between the gov-
ernment of the United States and Spain to determine the
southwestern boundary of Louisiana ; but the claims of the
former were regarded to be inadmissible, and the discussions
were broken off*

In 1 8 19 the negotiations between Spain and the United
States were again renewed, and were finally terminated by a
treaty, called the Florida Treaty, signed at Washington, Feb.
22, 1819.

The claim of the United States to all Texas was then
abandoned. The southwestern boundary of Louisiana, pre-
vious to this treaty, was the Aroyo, midway between Natchi-
toches and the Adais, this having been the dividing line before
the session of Louisiana to Spain, in 1762. By the Florida
treaty, the boundary west was fixed to be the river Sabine to
32 latitude, thence due north to the Rio Roxo or Red river, of
XatcJntoches, thence westward along this river to 1 00 west
longitude, from Greenwich, and 23 from Washington ; thence
to its source in 42 latitude until it meets the parallel of lati-

1 699.] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 121

tude 42, and thence along this parallel to the Pacific. The
reason, therefore, for abandoning the claims to Texas, made
by the United States, was the acquisition of the Floridas.

This peaceable settlement of the Texas territory after-
wards finally resulted in its annexation to the United States
in 1845, under different circumstances, and after the people
of that Republic had established an independent govern-
ment. Those who had opposed the measure, both in and
out of Congress, now looked upon it with other eyes, and all
agreed that the United States could not do without Texas.
Among those who most rejoiced was the the venerable ex-
president ANDREW JACKSON. He had watched the struggle
of the Infant Republic for Independence since 1835, with an
earnest solicitude ; and when the question of annexation
came before Congress, he viewed it as absolutely necessary,
to carry out the " MONROE doctrine," and prevent hereafter
the intermeddling of European powers with the governments
of this continent.

MEMOIR OF THE TAKING POSSESSION OF THE COUNTRY ON
THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI

Canada, Bay des Puants

Recoid of the Taking Posaession, in His Majesty's Name, of the Bay des Puants
jGieen Ba\), of the Lake and Ri\eis of the Outagamis (Fox Rivei), and
MasLttttu* tLake Winnebagoj, of the Rivei Quiskontke (Wisconsin), and
that of the "Missisapi^ the Country of the Xadauesioux, the Riveis Ste
CMS. and .S/ Peter, and othei places moie remote Sth May, 1689.

ICHOLAS PERROT, commanding for the King. at the post of the
S"adpitC3ioux, commissioned by the Maiquis DE DENONVILLE,
Governor and Lieutenant General of all New Fiance, to manage
the mteiest of commerce among all the Indian tubes and peoples
of the Bav des Puants, Xadcuesioux, Hascoutms, and othei Western Nations of
the L'ffct 3/usissjpi, and to take possession in the King's name, of all the
places- \t here he has hitheito been, and whithei he will go

\Ve this <?ay, the eighth of May one thousand six hundred nnd eighty, do, in
presence of the Re\erend Father MAREST of the Society of Jesus, Missionaiy
among the JTadoueswux j of Monsr DE BoRiE-GuiLLOT, commanding the
French m the neighboihood of OmskoncJie, on the Mississipi; AUGUSTIN
LLGARDELR Esquire, Sieur DE C-VUMOXT, and of Messieurs LE SUEUR, HER-
BERT, LEMIRE and BLEIN , Declare to all whom it may Concern, that having
come from the Bay des Puants, and to the lake of the Ouiskonche*, and to the
mer Missi$*ipi, we did transport ourselves to the Countiy of the IfadoitL'stoux,
on the border of the mer Saint Croiv, and at the fhouth of the River Saint Peter,
on the bank of which were the Jfanfanfans, and farther up into the mterioi to
the North east of the Jfissfcsipi as fai as the MenchokatonXi with whom dwell
the majority of the Songestitons and other Nadouesstoitx % who are to the North
east of the Mississippi to take possession for, and in the name of the King, of
the countries and rivers inhabited by the said tribes, and of which they are
proprietors. The present Act, done m our presence, Signed with our hand, and
subscribed by the Reverend Father MAREST, Messrs. DE BORIE GUILLOI and
CAt y MONT, and the Sieurs LE SUEUR, HEBERT, LEJKIRE and BLEIN

I>one at the Post, Sf Anthony, the day and year aforesaid. These presents
are in duplicate , Signed to the Original JOSEPH JEAN MAREST of the Society
of Jesus, N PBROT, LEGARDEUR DE CAUMONT, LE SUEIR; JEAN HEBERT,
JOSEPH LEMIRE and F. BLEIN.

SENT BY THE KING TO M DE DENONVILLE, GOVERNOR-GEN-
ERAL OF NEW FRANCE, EXPLANATORY OF THE FRENCH
POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA, ESPECIALLY THE SOUTH
PART OF ACADIA, FROM PANTAGOUET TO THE KENNE-
BECK RIVER , OF THE IROQUOIS AND HUDSON'S BAY , DONE
AT VERSAILLES, THE STH MARCH, 1668.

Signed, LOUIS.

And lower do\\ n COLBERT

FR VNSLATED FROM A COPY OF THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT, DEPOSITED IX THE
ARCHIVES OF THE MINISTERS DE LA MARINE ET DES COLONIES, PARIS.

CHAPTER I.

EMOIR or Abstract of the discoveries of
New France, as well of what we, as of
what the English have discovered from
the Virginias to Davis Strait, as of what
they and we can pretend to according to
the report of the historians who have
written thereupon, as I report below, which will enable
every one to judge dispassionately of the whole.

If a desire exist, then, to treat this matter thoroughly,
and to be perfectly informed of the right of the French and
of the English, it is necessary only to read the abstract of

124 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

Sieur DE CHAMPLAIN ;* everything will be found very well
examined, and it will appear that the French have taken
possession of all the countries from Florida to Cape Breton,
prior to any other Christian prince.

That in 1504, the Bretons and the Normands f first dis-
covered the Great Bank and Newfoundland, as can be seen
in the " History of Sieur WlTFLIET DE MAGIN," printed at
Doitay (entitled, " Descriptionis Ptolemaica Argumentum ")."

In 1524, JEAN VERRAZZANO, in virtue of a commission
from FRAXCIS I., took possession of the territory, beginning
at the thirty-third degree of latitude, as far as forty-seventh.

In 1562, RiBAULT and LAUDONNI&RE, having gone to
Florida, by authority of King CHARLES IX., to inhabit and
cultivate that country, founded Carolina there in the thirty-
fifth and thirty-sixth degrees.^

* "

Les reyqges dt la yoiwelk France Occidental*? par le Sr. DE CHAMPLAIN,
Geogiapher to the King. Pans, 1632.

t The first voyages of the Bretons of St. Afalo, and the Normans of Dieppe, which
occurred in 1504, were exploring as well as fishing \oyages Two years later, in
1506, JE\X DE.NYS explored the Gulf of S Lawrence (GoZfo Quadiado), and
made a chart of the Gulf and of the mouth of the St Lawrence. The Bietons
and the Normands went over fiom the Banks of Newfoundland to the continent,
from fishing to planting. They carried the race, the language, the religion, the
customs, and 0so the traditions and the songs, of Western Fiance to North-
eastern America, where, foi a long time, they outstripped the English, the Por-
tuguese, and the Spaniards, and became for many yeais more influential than all
their rivals ; and, for a long time, was the battle ground for the conflicting
claims of France and England.

See RlBAULT's account of his first voyage to colonize Florida, in 1562,
printed in this volume with notes. Also, LAUDONNIERE'S history of the voyages
made by him and RIBAULT to found a colony of French Protestants in Florida,
^564-7. (Stejiist ssnes of tlie Historical Collections of Louisiana and Florida,
pp. 165-360.)

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 125

But particularly in 1603 and following years, Sieur BE
CHAMPLAIN, being in Canada, was in command of that
colony, and in 1609 went with two other Frenchmen into
Lake Champlain, of which he took possession in the name of
King HENRY IV., and called it after himself; and that after
he had discovered Lake Champlain, he went as far as the
country of the Iroquois*

In the years 1611 and 1612, he ascended the Grand river
(ptta^va)) as far as Lake Huron^ called the Fresh Sea / he
went thence to the Pctun nation, next to the Neutral natien
and to the Macoutins, who were then residing near the place
called the Sakiman ; from that he went to the Algonquin and
Huron tribes, at war against the Iroqitois.

And as it is an established custom and right, recognized
among all Christian nations, that the first discoverers of an
unknown country not inhabited by Europeans, who plant
the arms of their prince there, acquire the property of that
country for that prince in whose name they have taken pos-
session of it.

On that principle, and no author being found who states
that the English had taken possession of the countries of
Canada, or discovered them, unless subsequently to the
French, they having come to the countries of Canada, Vir-
ginia, and Florida, only in 1594, whilst the French took pos-
session of them in 1504, 1524, 1534, and 1562, which fact the
English cannot question, inasmuch as JACQUES CARTIER*

* CAR TIER, after having explored, to a considerable extent, the gulf coast of
the St Lawrence, on. the 24th July, 1534, entered Gaspt Bay, and erected a

126 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

visited in 1 5 34 all the coasts of that country ; his relations
and those of ALPHONSE XAIXTOXGOIS and VERRAZZANO
attest it, and are inserted at length in the collections of
divers accounts which PURCHAS and HACKLUYT, English-
men, have published in London, in their language. And it
is notorious that Sieur CHAMPLAIX did for many years pros-
ecute the fur trade at the place where Boston now stands,
and farther down towards the north or east, along the same
coast, during more than ten years, before any English or
Dutch inhabited that quarter.

The foundation of the English pretenses is this : About
the year 1594, some Englishmen being on the coasts of
Florida, arrived at a place they called Mocosa, and which
they since named Virginia. JAMES, King of England, granted
them, for their encouragement, great privileges, among
others to extend their right from the thirty-third degree to
the forty-fifth or forty-sixth. The Royal Charter was issued
on the loth of April, 1607, in these words : Potcstatem faci-
mns occitpandi possidendique tract us omucs ad graduin usqzie
qitadragesimum quintum ita sz a christianorum prmcipe nullo
teneantur.

This is all the foundation the English have ; it is mani
festly null, because it is stated in the above letters patent of
King JAMES : We grant them all the countries up to the
forty-fifth degree, not possessed by any Christian prince.

cross thirty feet high, and took possession of the country for his King, and on
the 25th set sail for France, and arrived at St. 3fafo on the 5th September, 1534.

LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA. 1 27

Now, it is indubitable that at the date of the aforesaid grant
the King of France was in possession of at least up to the
fortieth degree of latitude, the place where the Dutch since
settled.

And in 1603 Commander DE CHASTES was lieutenant-gen-
eral for the Most Christian King in New France from the
fortieth to the fifty-second degree, and it is even certain, as
already stated, that, as early as the year 1523, JEAN VER-
RAZZANO took possession of all the countries from the
thirty-third to the forty-seventh degree.

And in 1564-5 the French, in the, name of CHARLES IX.,
took possession of Florida, in the thirtieth and thirty-first
degrees, where fort Caroline was situate. All this is clearly
seen in the Abstract of Sieur DE CHAMPLAIN, which
it is well to consult in order to have fuller knowledge
thereof.

The King's edict of the month of May, 1664, will also
show, among other things, that the property of Canada,
Acadia, the island of Newfoundland, etc., the main lands
from the north of Canada unto Virginia and Florida, did be-
long to the West India Company, to which it was granted
by the King, as far and as deep as they could extend into
the interior.

And by another, revoking said Company, of the month of
December, 1674, his Majesty has united to and incorporated
with the domain of his crown all the said lands and coun-
tries, to wit, among others, Canada or New France, Acadia,
the island of Newfoundland and other islands, and the main

10

128 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1699.

land from the north of said country of Canada unto Virginia
and Florida.*

Acadia having been taken by the English from the French
during the war between France and England, and peace be-
ing afterwards concluded between the two crowns, Cheva-
lier DE GRAXDFONTAINE, his Most Christian Majesty's
commander throughout the entire coasts and countries of

* When the French began their settlements in Canada, or New France, the
country was one \ast and unbounded forest, and property was granted in seign-
iories, stretching along the St Lawrence three hundred miles or moie, on both
sides of the river. " It was RICHELIEU \vho first planted feudalism in Canada
It prevailed in old France, and it was natuial it should also prevail m the New
The seignior was usually the immediate vassal of the crown, from which he had
received his land gratuitously In a few cases he made giants to other seigniors,
inferior in the feudal scale, and they, his vassals, granted m tuin to their vassals,
the habitants or cultivators of the soil. Sometimes the Jiabitant held dhectly of
the crown, m which case there was no step between the highest and lowest
degrees of the feudal scale. The seignior held by the tenuie of faith and hom-
age , the habitant^ by the inferior tenure en censwe One condition was imposed
on him, which may be said to form the distinctive featuie of Canada, on feudal-
ism : that of clearing his land within a limited time, on pain of forfeiting it.
As the seignior was often the penniless owner of a domain three or four leagues
wide, and proportion ably deep, he could not clear it himself, and was compelled
to place the greater part in the hands of those who could, but was forbidden to
sell any part of it, and must grant it without price, on condition of a small per-
petual rent. The greater part of the grants made by the old company of New
France reverted to the crown for neglect to occupy and improve the land. On
repeated occasions, negligent seigniors lost the whole or a part of their land
Most of the seigniories were simple Jiffs* but there were some exceptions. In
1671, the King T as a mark of honor to TALON, erected his seigniory Des Ilets into
a barony, and soon after made it an earldom, Comte ' f the seigniory of St. Laurent,
an earldom ; the seigniory of Portneuf^ a barony , and in 1700 three seigniories
on the south side of the St. La-wrencc were united into the barony bil^mgnnl *'
Parkman's Old Rtgime in Canada. The income of the seigmor was derived

1 699.] LO UISIAKA AND FLORIDA. 1 29

Acadia, and Chevalier TEMPLE,* lieutenant-general and
governor of those countries for the King of Great Britain,
made a treaty at Boston on the 7th July, 1670, restoring to
France the forts of Pentagonet, of the river St. John, Port
Royal, Cape Sable, La Heve, and generally all the lands and
rivers comprehended within the said country of Acadia, con-
formably to his Britannic Majesty's letter, of which Sieur
DE GRANDFONTAINE was bearer, and Articles X. and XL of
the Treaty of Breda, as is to be seen by the said treaty, of
the 7th July, 1670.

from the yearly rent of his lands. Possessed of this advantage, he in time
attained a state of compaiative affluence , but by the practice of divisions among
the different children of his family, he, in a few years, became reduced. The
most ample share, which retained the name of the seigniory, is the portion of the
oldest son y the other portions were denominated fiefs. And in the course of a
few descents, the seignior was possessed of little more than his title. A law abol-
ishing feudal tentues was passed in Canada, in 1854, regulating the lelations of
seigniorial landloids and theii tenants. The number of fiefs, or feudal estates,
at the time of passing the act, was ascertained to be two hundred and twenty,
possessed by one hundred and sixty seigniors and about seventy-two thousand
renteis, occupying over twelve million acies of land.

* Sii THOMAS TEMPLE was a kinsman of Lord SAY. Having obtained with
others, from OLIVER CROMWELL, in 1656, a grant of Acadia, including Nova
Scotia, and come to New England in 1657, when the persecution of the Quakers
was at its height, he endeavored, most humanely, though ineffectually, to save
the lives of those* of that sect who were condemned to be executed He was re-
commissioned Governor of Nova Scotia and Acadia by CHARLES II. in 1662, in
which year he vibited New York and Fort Orange to suppress the incursions of
the Mohawks into his territory. This, however, was soon after ceded to France
by the treaty of Breda. He declined to comply with the terms of the treaty, on
the ground of the non-payment of ^"16,000, which England afterward agreed to
pay him. Thereupon he returned to England, and died in 1674, having devised
his interest to WILLIAM NELSON, who transferred it, in 1730, to SAMUEL WALDO
of Boston.

130 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1699.

In consequence whereof said Sieur DE GRANDFONTAINE,
on the I4th of August following, commissioned Sieur DE
MARSOX sub-lieutenant to take possession of Port Royal
and of the fort of the river St. John, whence it appears that
said Sieur DE GRANDFOXTAINE was at Pcntagouet ; where-
fore, it is to be noted that Sieur ANDROS, Governor of Bos-
ton, ought not to have, this year 1688, plundered Sieur DE
ST. CASTIX, at Pcntagouet, as he has done.

It is also to be remarked that, besides the said treaty
concluded between said Chevalier DE GRANDFONTAINE
and Chevalier TEMPLE, they have concluded still another,
which bounds the country of Acadia and separates it from
that which the English occupy by the river Kcnnebcck.

And to come to the right of property the French have
over the country of the Iroquois. In addition to what has
been already stated by Sieur DE CHAMPLAIN, he has been
twice at war (in that country) long before the Dutch or Eng-
lish of Manat or Orange had set foot on shore. Not to
mention the fact that the King has, for over forty years,
kept at his own expense, in the Iroquois country, several
Frenchmen, who, with some Jesuit missionaries, have been
to build and have resided in the five Iroquots cantons all at
the same time, down to these latter days, when the rumors
of war forced them to retire, one after another.

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 131

CHAPTER II.

|N 1656, M. DE LAUZON, the King's go\v
ernor and lieutenant-general in New
France*, sent, at the solicitation of the
Iroquois themselves, into their country,
to a place called Ganentaa, as many as
sixty Frenchmen, including a garrison

of twelve soldiers under the command of Sfeur DUFUIS,
who caused to be constructed at that place a royal fort,
whither were conveyed four pieces of bronze cannon, which
have remained there, and will be found again by the French
who were there at the time and are still living. This is
proved by said Sieur DUPUIS* commission of the I5th May,
1656. In which country the said sixty Frenchmen cleared
and planted lands with French grain and other legumes,

* ** The governor-general and the intendant was a military noble, in most
cases bearing a title, and sometimes of high rank. The intendant, as in France,
was usually drawn from the gens de iobe, or legal class. The governor was
supeiior in rank to the intendant. He commanded the troops, and con-
ducted relations \i ith foreign colonies and Indian tribes The intendant was
virtually a spy on the governor-general, and every year he wrote to the Minis-
ter of State, filled with the secrets of the colony, political and personal. The
governor, intendant, and Supreme Council were absolute masters of the prov-
ince, under the pleasure of the King." Parkmaifs Old R^+ime in Canada.

1 3 2 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ 1 699.

built many large houses, and lived there peaceably and
without any opposition on the part of those who were then
in possession of Manat and Orange, who, far from being
masters of the country of the Iroquots, purchased from them
some portion of their lands, when they wished for any, as
they still do at present. And what is worthy of remark is
that the Iroquois themselves came, in 1655, on an embassy
to Quebec to request of said Sieur DE LAUZON those sixty
soldiers aforesaid, and conducted them the following year to
the said place of Gctncntaa, where they located, established,
and put them in possession (Inquest made by the Lieuten-
ant-Governor of Quebec, the 2gth and 3Oth October, 1688.
App. G.), and where they remained until, the Iroquois hav-
ing committed some acts of hostility in the direction of
Montreal, the commander of said fort thought proper to
retire with his garrison in order to protect the sixty men
aforesaid from the wicked designs the Iroquois had con-
cocted against them.

And in order to show that the country of the Iroquois was
at the disposition of the Governor of Quebec to make
grants thereof, in the same manner as of the other lands of
his government, it is worthy of remark, that, at the time
Sieur DUPUIS was sent with his soldiers on the part of
the King, to construct the aforeaid fort of Ganentaa and
garrison it, M. BE LAUZON made a grant in due form of a
part of said lands to the Jesuit missionary fathers, who were
of the sixty Frenchmen aforesaid, (The deed is dated the
1 2th of April, 1656.)

l6 99-J LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 133

In 1665, as is proved by the copy of the articles of peace
of the I3th December, 1665, the four Iroquois Nations* of
Onnontague, Oneida^ Cayuga^ and Seneca being come to sue
for peace, it was granted them by M. DE TRACY, according
to the terms thereon concluded.

And in order to check the Mohazuk Indians, who were
frequently coming to kill our French people even in their
settlements, M. DE TRACY went with an armed force in 1666
as far as their country, of which he made himself master, and
set up the King's arms there, taking by that means, posses-
sion anew of the Iroquois territory, without any opposition
on the part of the English who were then at Manattc and at
Orange. This is proved by the prise de possession thereof,

"* When the territoiies of Canada were discovered, they were found to be inhab-
ited by numerous Indian tribes belonging to three out of the ten great families
of savages who occupied the region between the Mississippi, the Atlantic,
and the Esquimaux country, namely, the Algonqutns, Hurons, Sioux, Cherokws,
Catawbas, Uchees, Natches, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, etc. These were con-
sidered substantive races, because each spoke a language bearing no analogy with
that of the others, and which was not understood by others when spoken ; yet the
individuals of each tribe composing a nation, however far apart, could under-
stand the language of every other tribe of that nation, while they could not
communicate with the men of an alien nation. The Huron tribes of the North
were environed by Algonquin* The immediate dominion of the Iroquois were
the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. Their geographical
position made them umpires in the contest of the French for dominion m the
Wesi. Not only did they claim supremacy over Northern New England as far
as the Kennebeck, but as far as Connecticut They were first visited by the
Jesuits, or the war parties of the French, stretched from Lake Chamflain to
Ontario, along the head- waters of the Ohio, Susquehannah, and Delaware.
Their destruction has been almost exclusively the result of wars among them-
selves, or against other Indian nations.

134 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ l6 99-

drawn up on the i;th October, 1666, by Sieur DUBOIS, for
M. TALOX, the King's Intendant, by Acts passed before
DUGUET, notary, who had, for this purpose, accompanied
the army.

And what adds great weight to all this is, that, besides
the taking possession of the Mohawk country by said Sieur
BE TRACY, with an armed force, in the fall of the year 1666,
the Deputies of the other four Iroquois nations came to said
M. DE TRACY in 1667, and in due form, by an Act signed
on the one part and the other, by the Iroqitois after their
fashion, and by us after ours, did give themselves to the
French, and placed their country under the King's dominion.
The originals have been approved and carried to France at
the request of M. TALON, the then Intendant.

Since that time, our Frenchmen have always carried on
trade with the Iroquois; M. COURCELLES having gone up
with a number of French to Lake Ontario, to the place
named Katarakm, where the said Iroquois being, they were
[he was] received by the latter as their Father; and in the
year 1673, Count DE FRONTENAC having gone to Katara-
km, likewise accompanied by a number of Frenchmen, had
a Royal fort to be erected there, where the King has always
kept a garrison and a Governor, whom Sieur DE FRON-
TENAC caused to build at the said Katarakui divers barks,
which have always navigated and traded with the Scnccas
and other Iroqnois as far as Niagara, where Sieur DE LA
SALLE f'as is proved by two writings drawn up by Sieur DE
LA SALLE for the benefit of MOYSE HILSER, dated at Fort

l6 99-l LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA 135

Crevecosur the 1st and 2d March, 1680, which affords
evidence of said Sieur DE LA SALLE'S residence and trade
at Niagara in 1676) had built in 1676 a store, a forge, and
other buildings for the greater accommodation of the trade
with the said Senccas and other Iroquois, who used to come
to us in the French settlements at Katarakui and Niagara
(see the Proces Verbal of the new entry into possession of
said peace of Niagara by the Marquis DE DENONVILLE, last
July, 1687, on the return march of the army commanded by
him against the Seneca$)> and our Frenchmen have always
had peaceabfe possession of the Iroquozs country, going and
coming to their villages, and many residing with the mission-
aries there, until, the war with \htlroquois having broke out,
the Frenchmen, missionaries, and others were obliged to
withdraw, \\hereupon Colonel DONGAN, Governor of New
York, took occasion, in 1684, to send to the Iroquois village
to set up the arms of the King of England therein and to
take possession thereof, offering them powder and other
munitions of war to induce them to admit the necessity that
existed of giving themselves to him. But this entry into pos-
session being illegitimate and posterior, by so many years, to
that of the French, cannot convey any right to the Eng-
lish over those lands, which already belong to the French
by so many anterior titles, as has been previously re-
marked, and by so many lawful and incontestable rights.

For, as regards Colonel DOXGAX'S assertions, that the
country of the Iroquois belongs to his government because,
according to him, it is south of his jurisdiction, we answer

136 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ l6 99-

in the first place, that it is not south, but in fact west-north-
west of Manatte, New York.

Secondly, though it were south, that cannot derogate from
the rights of the French who had taken possession of it even
before the Dutch or the English had set foot at Manatte,
and who, since they are there, never opposed it, until within
three or four years, which cannot confer any right on them.

To come now to the possessions and establishments (these
will be proved by the acts which M. TALON has in Paris)
which have been acquired in ascending the St. Lawrence,
since the post of Niagara, Sieur DE LA SALLE with thirty
Frenchmen, of \vhich number was M. TONTY, Priest Supe-
rior of the Seminary of Montreal, made the tour of Lake
Erie and took possession of the circumjacent lands, after
Sieur JOLIET, with Father MARQUETTE, Jesuit, had long
before done the same thing, in order to renew the entry into
possession of Sieur DE CHAMPLAIN in 1612.

And after that, in 1676 (proved by a writing of said Sieur
DE LA SALLE for the benefit of MOYSE KILLERS, in March,
1680, by the proces verbal of the M. DE DENONVILLE of last
July, 1687, and by the inquisition of the said Lieutenant-
General of Quebec), said Sieur DE LA SALLE caused a ship
and a large house to be built above the Falls of Niagara,
within three or four leagues of Lake Erie, where are still
visible the stocks whereon was built the said vessel, which
having been completed in 1677, about the feast of St. John
the Baptist, was conducted, freighted with merchandise, into
the said Lake Erie, and thence passed through the Detroit,

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 137

where Fort St. Joseph or du Luth is built and where Sieur DE
LA DURANTAYE renewed the entry into possession of the
neighboring countries, north and south, navigated Lake
Huron as far as Missihmakinak and thence through that of
the Illinois or Missagans beyond the Huron islands, which
said bark was constructed for the greater convenience of
trading with the French who inhabited the said place of
Missilimakinak for more than forty years ; some French estab-
lished at the Bay des Puans, with those at Fort St. Louts
established by said Sieur DE LA SALLE, who Iiad discovered
the great river of Mississippi, and descended it as far as the
South Sea. For the continuation of which trade, he caused
a fort and buildings to be erected and a bark to be begun at
a place called Crevccceur, in order to proceed as far as the
said South Sea, two-thirds of which bark only were built, the
said Sieur DE LA SALLE having aftenvards employed ca-
noes for his trade in said countries, as he had already done
for several years in the rivers Ohio, Wabache, and others in
the surrounding neighborhood which flow into the said river
Mississippi, whereof possession was taken by him in the
King's name, as appears by the relations made thereof. The
countries and rivers of Ohio or WatacJie and circumjacent
territory were inhabited by our Indians, the Chauanons,
Miamis, and Illinois.

It is to be remarked that, as early as the year 1633, a
good many Frenchmen having gone up to the Hnrons with
the Jesuit fathers and missionaries, settled there ; and ten
years afterwards, the king sent thirty soldiers thither, who

138 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ l6 99-

remained there until the destruction of all the Hurons by the
Iroquois obliged the French to retire for a time , but they
returned thither shortly afterwards in a much more con-
siderable number, and spread themselves throughout those
vast countries. (It is proved by an arret of the Council of
State of the 5th of March, 1648, that his Majesty had
authorized the sending to the Huron country a company of
thirty men t commanded by a captain, for the purpose of
escorting the Hurons and other Indian tribes, and to accom-
pany the missionaries, who were no longer able to continue
their missions without aid.)

Thirdly, what is more authentic in this matter is, the
entry into possession of all those countries made by M.
TALOX, Intendant of New France, who in 1671 sent Sieur
DE ST. LuSSOX, his subdelegate, into the country of the
Otauas, who invited the deputies of all the tribes within a
circumference of more than a hundred leagues to meet at
St. JIarjf of the Sault. On the 4th of June of the same
year, fourteen tribes, by their ambassadors, repaired thither,
and in their presence, and that of a number of Frenchmen,
the Sieur DE ST. LUSSON erected there a post to which he
affixed the King's arms, and declared to all those people
that he had convoked them in order to receive them into
the King's protection, and in his name to take possession of
ail their lands, so that henceforth ours and theirs should
be but one ; which all those tribes very readily accepted.

The commission of said subdelegate contained these very
words, viz. : That he was sent to take possession of the

l6 99-l LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA. 139

countries lying between the east and west, from Montreal
to the South Sea, as much and as far as was in his power.
This entry into possession was made with all those formal-
ities, as is to be seen in the relation of 1671, and more
expressly in the record of the entry into possession, drawn
up by the said subdelegate.

The next year, 1672, the river Mississippi, and, at the
same time, the Illinois, Chauanons, and other tribes unknown
to Europeans, were discovered by Sieur JOLlET*and the

* Sieur Louis JOLIET, whose name is now imperishably connected with the
discovery of the Mississippi river and the exploiation of the West, was born at
Quebec, in the year 1645. Aftei completing his studies at the Jesuit College of
that city, he embraced the ecclesiastical profession, received minor orders m
1662, and finished his philosophy in 1666. He afterwards turned his attention
to other puisuits, and set out for the Indian country of the West. In 1672 he
was selected by Governor Count DE FRONTENAC to proceed in search of the
great river which was reported by the Indians to Father ALLOrEZ, \\ ho \\ as the
fiist Jesuit missionary who reached its waters. Father MARQUETTE, who was
selected to accompany JOLIET, says that " he was eminently qualified for such an
important undei taking. He possessed wisdom, discretion, courage, expeiience,
and a knowledge of the Algonquin languages/* The success of this expedition
is fully set forth in the first, second, third, and fourth volumes of the fast series
of the Historical Collections of Louisiana, and forms an mteiesting episode in
the history of that State. On his return from this exploration to Canada, in 1672,
he had the misfortune to lose his journal in descending the rapids of the St.
Lawrence. He drew up, however, from memory, a narrative with a map, which
was transmitted to the court of France by Count DE FRONTENAC in 1674. Father
DABLON, the Superior-General of the Canada Missions, in the description of
the map published by him in the Relations, 1670-1, pp 89-91, alludes to the ex-
istence of the Mississippi . " that it flowed south, and probably had its mouth in
the Florida Sea " (Gulf of Mexu oj. But JOLIET, in one of his expeditions to the
West, had nearly reached it, " And the long-expected discovery was now to be
accomplished by JOJLIET, of whom there is scarce a record ; but this one excur-

140 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ l6 99-

Jesuit Father MARQUETTE, who went as far as the thirty-
second degree, and set up the King's arms, taking posses-
sion in his name of all those recently discovered nations.*

sion gives him immortality, and by MARQUETTE, who, after yeais of pious assidu-
ity to his missionary labors among the Htirons, entered with the same zeal and
humility upon a caieer which exposed his life to perpetual danger, and by its
results affected the destiny of nations." MARQUETTE'S joumal and map did
not, howe\er, reach the French government until 1675, when the King and
Court allow ed the whole discovery to he over , and had not THEVENOT obtained
a copy of the narrative and map, which he published in 1 68 1, a translation of
tthich is to be found in the second volume of the Historical Collections of
Louibiana, -vol. 2, pp. 280-97, "France \\ould have derived no benefit," says
SHEA, *' from this discovery, and but for the enterprise and peisevermg courage
of Cavahei DE LA SALLE, who now looked for some new field, and having
read the Spanish accounts of this great nver, described by the histoiians of
DE SOTO'S expedition, he repaired to France m 1677, and by the help of Gov-
ernor FRO>TENAC*S recommendation he obtained a patent for his discovery.
The plan traced by JOLIET in FRONTENAC'S despatch of 1674, seems to have
been followed by him/* He accordingly set out on his voyage down the Mis-
sissippi^ and reached its mouth in 1682, and took possession of all the country in
the name of Louis XIV., and named it Louisiana In 1680 JOLIET was appointed
hydrographer to the King, and as a reward for having discoveied the country of
the Illinois^ and for the exploration of the Colbert (Mississippi) river, and for a
voyage made to Hudson's Bay, in the public interests, he obtained a giant of
the island of Anticosti, in the Gitlf of St. Lawrence,, which, on account of the
fisheries and the Indian trade, was, at the time, one of the most profitable seig-
niories in Canada. On the 3Oth April, 1697, he obtained a grant of the seig-
niory of JOLIET, on the river Etckemins, south of Quebec, which is still in the
possession of some of his descendants He afterwards died about the year
1702, leaving a widow and four children. Notes sur les Registres de Notre Dame
de Qwbec. La Hontan, 1728, vol. I, p 336
* EXTRACT from a letter written by Count DE FKONTENAC to M. COLBERT,

dated Quebec* Nov. 14, 1674,

u Sieur JOLIET, whom M TALON advised me on my arrival from France to
detach for the discovery of the South Sea, has returned three months ago, and
discovered some new countries, and a navigation so easy through the beautiful

1699-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA 141

And some years after, Sieur DE LA SALLE extended the
same discovery farther, even unto the sea, taking every-
where possession by the King's arms, which he erected
there.

All the foregoing demonstrates sufficiently the incontest-
able right the French have to the Iroquois lands, to those of
the Otawas, and all the other tribes inhabiting the countries
aforementioned, and others whereof possession has also been
taken in His Majesty's name, along the river St. Lawrence,
the lakes it forms, and the rivers discharging therein, which
constitute the continuation of the waters of said river St.
Lawrence (the river St. Lawrence is proved by the con-
cession of M. DE LAUZON, of the ijth of May, 1656, to
Sieur DUPUY, already mentioned) from the gulf, always
following the same point of the compass, and extends be-
yond Lake Superior > proceeding from the Lake des Alep%ni-
gons, without any interruption of the navigation, our barks

livers he has found that a person can go from Lake Ontdno and Fort Fiontenac in
a bark canoe to the Gulf of Mexico* there being only one carrying place, half a
league in length, where Lake Ontario communicates with Lake Ene. He has
been within ten days of the Gulf of Mexico, and believes that water communi-
cation could be found leading to the Vermilhon and California seas (called by
the Spaniards Mar de Cortes} by means of the river that flows from the west into
the gieat nver (Mississippi) that he discovered, which runs from north to south,
and is as large as the Si. Lawrence, opposite Quebec. I send you, by my secretary,
the map he has made of tt, and the observations that he has been able to lecolled, as
he has lost all his minutes and journals in the shipwreck he met imtk, wthm sight
of Montreal, -where, after having completed a voyage of fifteen hundred leagues,
he was near being drowned, and lost all his papers, and a young Indian whom he
brought from those countries, ffe left wifJi the fathers of the Sault St. Marie
(Lake Superior} copies of his journals; these we cannot get before next year?

142 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

having always sailed from lake to lake along said river, the
one making their voyage from the place called la Galette*
to Xiagara on Lake Ontario or Front enac^ and the others
from above the falls of Niagara unto the head of Lake
3Iissigam^ or Illinois, passing through that of Erie, then
following said river St. Lawrence, by the Detroit and Fort
St. Joseph, or du Lut/i, and thence into Lake Huron or the
Fresh Sea, which communicates (remand) with the said lake
of the Illinois as well as the said Lakes Superior and des
Afepinigons, where the French actually are trading and have
divers establishments ; and it demonstrates their possession of
the great river Mississippi, 'which they have discovered as far
as the South Sea, on which rtvcr also tJiey have divers estab-
lishments, as 'well as on that of Ohio, Ouabache, etc^ ivhtch
fio'w into the satd river Mississippi, and of the countries and
lands in the vicinity of said rivers, 'where they actually carry
on trades which countries are easily recognised on the general
map of North America*

HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS

RELATING TO THE

FIRST DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT

OF

FLORIDA,

WITH HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

Snttoiruetton

TO THE

COLONIAL HISTORY OF FLORIDA.

| HE following Interesting and graphic
letter from COLUMBUS * to his friend
Don Luis DE SANTAXGEL, the Es-
cribano de Racion of the Catholic
sovereigns in 1493, is inserted here,
to show that from his own admis-
sion, if he had, in attempting fo discover a passage to
Eastern India, by the west a short road to the gums and

* DON CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

To his friend, DON Luis DE SAXTANGEL, on his arrival from his first voyage.

Ax THE AZORES, Feb. 15, 1493.

SIR, As I am sure you will be pleased at the great victory which the Lord
has given me in my voyage, I write this to inform you that in twenty days I
arrived in the Indies with the squadron which their Majesties had placed under
my command. There I discovered many islands, inhabited by a numerous popu-
lation, and took possession of them for their Highnesses, with public ceremony
and the royal flag displayed, without molestation.

The first that I discovered I named San Salvador, in remembrance of that
Almighty Power which had so miraculously bestowed them. The Indians call it
Guanahani. To the second I assigned the name of Santa Maria de Concepcien.

146 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1493-

spices, the gold and gems, of imaginary regions continued
his voyage directly west, instead of turning to the south-
west, he would have been the first European navigator to
reach the continent of North America, and the coast of
Florida.

The discovery of the Antilles was soon after, however,

To the third, that of Femandina. To the fourth, that of Isabela. To the fifth,
Jitana ; and so on to every one a new name.

When I ai rived at Juana, I followed the coast to the westwaid, and found it
so extensive that I consideied it must be a continent, and a piovmce of Cathay
And as I found no towns or villages by the sea-side, excepting some small settle-
ments, with the people of which I could not communicate because they all lan
away, I continued my course to the westward, thinking I should not fail to find
some large towns and cities After having coasted many leagues without finding
any signs of them, and seeing that the coast took me to the noithwaid, where I
did not uish to go, as the winter was already set in, I considered it best to follow
the coast to the south ; and, the wind being also scant, I detei mined to lose no
more time, and therefore returned to a certain port , fiom whence I sent two
messengers into the country to asceitain whether theie was any king there or any
large city.

They traveled for three days, finding an infinite number of small settlements
and an innumerable population, but nothing like a city , on which account they
returned. I had tolerably well ascertained fiom some Indians whom I had
taken that this land was only an island, so I followed the coast of it to the east
for 107 leagues, to its termination. And about eighteen leagues from this cape,
to the east, there was another island, to which I shortly gave the name of
Espanefa. I went to it, and followed the north coast of it, as I had done that of
yuana, for 178 long leagues due east.

This island is very fertile, as well, indeed, as all the rest It possesses numer-
ous harbors, far superior to any I know in Europe, and, what is remarkable, plenty
of large inlets. The land is high, and contains many lofty ndges ar d some very
high mountains, without comparison of the island of Cetrefrey ; all of them very
handsome, and of different forms ; aU of them accessible, and abounding in trees
of a thousand kinds, high, and appearing as if they would reach the skies. And
I am assured that the latter never lose their foliage, as far as I can understand,

J 493] LOUISIANA A^D FLOKIJDA. 147

followed by that of Florida, by PONCE DE LEON ; and
although the real wealth and importance of the New World,
first discovered by COLUMBUS, could not be magnified
beyond their value, they were soon overlooked, and ambi-
tion and cupidity pointed to other regions of more abound-
ing riches and higher civilization, overflowing with all that

for I saw them as fresh and flourishing as those of Spain in the month of May
Some were in blossom, some bearing fruit, and others in other states according
to their nature.

The nightingale and a thousand kinds of birds enlivened the woods \> ith their
song, in the month of November, wherever I went There are seven or eight
kinds of palms, of various elegant forms, besides various other trees, fruits, and
herbs. The pines of this island are magnificent. It has also extensive plains,
honey, and a great variety of buds and fruits. It has many metal mines, and a
population innumerable.

JEspafiola is a wonderful island, with mountains, groves, plains, and the country
generally beautiful and rich for planting and sowing, for rearing sheep and cattle
of all kinds, and ready for towns and cities The harbors must be seen to be
appreciated ; rivers are plentiful and large, and of excellent water ; the greater
part of them contain gold. There is a great difference between the trees, fruits,
and herbs of this island and those of Jitana. In this island there are many
spices, and large mines of gold and other metals.

The people of this island and of all the others which I have discovered or
heard of, both men and women, go naked as they were born, although some of
the women wear leaves of herbs, or a cotton covering made on purpose. They
have no iron nor steel, nor any weapons, not that they are not a well-disposed
people and of a fine stature, but they are timid to a degree. They have no
other arms excepting spears made of cane, to which they fix, at the end, a sharp
piece of wood, and then dare not use even these Frequently I had occasion to
send two or three of my men on shore to some settlement for information
where there would be multitudes of them t and as soon as thej" saw our people
they would run away every soul, the father leaving his child ; and this was not
because any one had done them harm, for rather at every cape where I landed
and been able to communfoate with them, I have made them presents of cloth
and many other things without receiving anything in return ; but because they

148 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ J 493-

the sordid covet or the ambitious desire. The discoveries of
the Portuguese had extended to the regions where the
harvest of the European adventurer was prepared before he
visited the field. This inflamed the avidity of the Spaniards ;
and the land discovered by COLUMBUS, after a time, came to
be regarded as almost an impediment to the progress of

are so timid. Certainly, wheie they have confidence and foiget then feais, they
are so open-hearted and liberal with all they possess, that it is scarcely to be
believed without seeing it If anything that they have is asked of them they
ne\er deny it ; on the contrary, they \ull offer it. Their generosity is so great
that they would give anything, whether it is costly or not, for anything of any
kind that is offered them, and he contented with it I, was obliged to pi event
such worthless things being given them as pieces of broken basins, broken glass,
and bits of shoe-latchets ; although when they obtained them they esteemed
them as if they had been the greatest of treasures. One of the seamen foi a
latchet received a piece of gold weighing two dollars and a half, and others, for
other things of much less value, obtained more. Again, for new silver coin
they \*ould give everything they possessed, whether it was worth two 01 thiee
doubloons or one. of two bails of cotton Even for pieces of broken pipe-tubes
they would take them and gr\ e anything for them, until, when I thought it
wrong, I prevented it. And I made them presents of thousands of things
which I had, that I might uin their esteem, and also that they might be made
good Christians and be disposed to the service of your Majesties and the whole
Spanish nation, and help us to obtain the things which we require and of whfch
there is abundance in their country

And these people appear to have neither religion 'nor idolatry, except that
they believe that good and evil come from the skies , and they firmly believed
that our ships and their crews, with myself, came from the skies, and with this
persuasion, after having lost their fears, they always received us. And yet this
does not proceed from ignorance, for they are very ingenious, and some of them
navigate their seas in a wonderful manner, and give good accounts of things, but
because they never saw people dressed or ships like ours.

And as soon as I arrived in the Indies, at the first island at which I touched,
I captured some of them, that we might learn from them and obtain intelligence
of what there vi as in those parts. And as soon as we undeistood each other

X 493-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA 149

adventure which might be crowned with like rewards.
CORTEZ had not yet conquered Mexico; Peru and New
Spain were still unknown; and though the few strange
animals, and beautiful birds, and the rich vegetable produc-
tions brought home as the first fruits of his discovery in a

savage and unsettled country were admired as specimens

they were of great service to us , but yet, from frequent conversation which I
have had with them, they still believe we came from the skies. These were the
fiist to express that idea, and others ran from house to house, and in the neigh-
boring villages, crying out, " Come and see the people from the skies." And
thus all of them, men and women, after having satisfied themselves of their
safety, came to us without reserve, great and small, bringing us something to
to eat and drink, and which they gave to us most affectionately.

They have many canoes in those islands propelled by oars ; some of them
large and others small, and many of them with eight or ten paddles of a side,
not very wide, but all of one trunk, and a boat cannot keep way with them by
oars, for they are incredibly fast , and \vith these they navigate all the islands,
which are innumerable, and obtain their articles of traffic. I have seen some of
these canoes with sixty or eighty men in them, and each with a paddle.

Among the islands I did not find much diversity of formation in the people,
nor in their customs, nor their language. They all understand each other, which
is remarkable : and I trust your Highnesses will determine on their being con-
verted to our faith, for which they are very well disposed.

I have already said that I went one hundred and seven leagues along the
coast of Juana^ from east to west. Thus, according to my track, it is larger
than England and Scotland together, for, besides these one hundred and seven
leagues, there were, further west, two provinces to which I did not go, one of
which is called Cibau, the people of which are born with tails ; which provinces
must be about fifty or sixty leagues long, according to what I can make out from
the Indians I have with me, who know all the islands. The other island (Espa-
nota) is larger in circuit than the whole of Spain from the Straits of Gibraltar
(the Columns} to Fuentarabia in Biscay^ as I sailed one hundred and thirty-eight
long leagues in a direct line from west to east Once known, it must be desired,
and once seen, one desires never to leave it ; and which, being taken possession
of for their Highnesses, and the people being at present in a condition lower

150 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1493-

and symbols, these were not the wealth which the Old
World valued, nor were the lands which produced them the
regions which were to realize the romantic dreams of an
immediate and overflowing acquisition of the most rare and
precious commodities of the East. COLUMBUS had at first
mistaken the islands he discovered for those of Eastern

than I can possibly describe, the Sovereigns of Castile may dispose of it in any
manner tbey please. In the most convenient places in this Espanola, and the
best district, there are gold mines, and, on the other hand, from thence to terra,
firma, as well as from thence to the Great Khan, where everything is on a splen-
did scale. I have taken possession of a large town, to which I gave the name
of La Xaiidaa* and have built a fort in it m every respect complete. And I left
sufficient people in it TO take care of it, -with aitillery, and provisions for more
than a year, also a boat and coxswain, with the equipments, in complete friend-
ship with the King of the island, to that degree that he delighted to call me and
look on me as his brother. And should they fall out with these people, neither
he nor his subjects know anything of weapons and go naked, as I have said, and
they are the most timorous people in. the world. The few people left theie are
sufficient to conquer the country, and the island would thus remain without danger
to them, they keeping order among themselves.

In all these islands it appeared to me the men are contented with one wife, but
to their Governor or King they allow twenty. The women seem to work more
than the men. I have not been able to discover whether they respect personal
property, for it appeared to me that things were common to all, especially in the
particular of provisions. Hitherto I have not seen in any of these islands any
monsters, as there were supposed to be , the people, on the contrary, are generally
well formed, nor are they black like those of Gmnta, saving their hair, and they
do not reside in places exposed to the sun's rays. It is true that the sun is most
powerful there, as it is only 26 from the equator. In this last winter those
elands which were mountainous were cold, but they are accustomed to it, with
good food and plenty of spices and hot nutriment. Thus I have found no
monsters nor heard of any, except at an island which is the seeond in going to
the Indies, and which 5s inhabited by a people who are considered in all the
islands as ferocious, and who devour human flesh. These people have many
canoes, which scour all the islands of India and plunder all they can. They are

H93-] LOUJSIA&A AXD FLORIDA. 151

India. Cuba he fancied a part of Asia;* but, once con-
vinced of his mistake, by the discovery of the continent of
America, and by further research, his bold genius and in-
stinctive sagacity suggested the necessity of a sea farther
west, washing the opposite side of the new continent ; and,
as previously shown, the northern shores of the new conti-

not worse formed than others, "but they wear the hair long like women, and use
bows and arrows of the same kind of cane pointed with a piece of hard wood
instead of iron, of which they have none. They are fierce compared with the
other people, who are in general but sad cowards ; but I do not consider them
in any other way superior to them. These aie they who trade in women, who
inhabit the first island met with in going from Spain to the Indies, in which there
are no men whatever. They have no effeminate exeicise, but bo\vs and arrows,
as before said, of cane, with which they arm themselves* and use shields of
copper, of which they have plenty.

There is another island, I am told, larger than Espanofa, the natives of which
have no hair,. In this there is gold w ithout limit, and of this and the others I
have Indians with me to \\ itness

In conclusion, referring only to what has been effected this voyage, which
was made with so much haste, your Highnesses may see that I shall find as much
gold as desired with the very little assistance afforded to me there is as much
spice and cotton as can be wished for, and also gum, which hitherto has only
been found in Greece^ in the island of Chios^ and they may sell it as they please,
and the mastich, as much as may be desired, and slaves, also, who will be idola-
ters. And I believe that I have found rhubarb and cinnamon, and a thousand
other things I shall find, which will have been discovered by those whom I have
left behind, for I did not stop at any cape when the wind enabled me to na\igate
except at the town of Navidad^ where I was very safe and well taken care of.
And in truth much more I should have done if the ships had served me as might
have been expected. This is certain, that the Eternal God our Lord gives all
things to those who obey him, and the victory when it seems impossible, and
this evidently is an instance of it, for although people have talked of these lands,
all was conjecture unless proved by seeing them, for the greater part listened and
judged more by hearsay than by anything else.

Since, then, our Redeemer has given this victory to our illustrious King and

152 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [*493-

nent were readied and explored by English, French, Portu-
guese, and Spanish navigators ; and while in search of one
of the wonders of the New World, the fabled fountain of
youth, in the Lucayan group of isles, opposite the great
western continent, JUAN PONCE DE LEON, an officer in the
second voyage made by COLUMBUS, discovered the coast of
Florida, and it was now clear to the mind of COLUMBUS
that an ocean washed the western shores of the new conti-
nent, and the east coast of China, and the discovery made by
NUNEZ DE BALBOA, in 1513, was the confirmation of his
theory. The shores of the new continent were soon after
explored from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Rio de la
Plata, to discover the strait which must form the channel of
communication with the East.

The search for this passage to the oriental islands was
the last labor in which COLUMBUS engaged his final and
most disastrous voyage was undertaken for this especial
object. But the legacy of discovery was bequeathed to
spirits cast in similar mould with his own. From the mount
he had obtained a view of the Promised Land, but was
denied the felicity of reaching it, or tasting its fruits.

Queen (FERDINAND and ISABELLA), and celebrated their reigns by such a great
thing, all Christendom should rejoice and make great festivals, and give solemn
thanks to the Blessed Trinity, with solemn praises for the exaltation of so much
people to our holy faith ; and next for the temporal blessings which not only
Spain, but they, will enjoy in becoming Christians, and which last may shortly
be accomplished.

OF

PAMFILO DE NARVAEZ.

TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE COUNTRIES AND PROVINCES
FROM RIO DE PALMAS TO THE CAPE OF FLORIDA, 1527

TRANSLATED FROM A COPY OF THE ORIGINAL IX THE ARCHIVES OF THE INDIES,

SEVILLE, SPAIN.

N behalf of the Catholic Csesarean Majesty
of DON CARLOS, King of the Romans,
and Emperor ever Augustus, and
Dona JUANA, his mother, sovereigns of
Leon and Castilla, defenders of the
church- ever victors, never vanquished,
and rulers of barbarous nations, I, PAMFILO DE NARVAEZ,
his servant, messenger, and captain, notify and cause ye to
know, in the best manner I can, that God, our Lord, one
and eternal, created the heaven and the earth, and one man
and one woman, of whom we and you and all men in the
world have come, are descendants and the generation, as
well will those be who shall come after us ; but because of
the infinity of offspring that followed in the five thousand

1 54 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ r 5 2 7-

years, and more since the world was created, it has become
necessary that some men should go in one direction, and
others in another, dividing into many kingdoms and prov-
inces, since in a single one they could not be sustained or
kept.

All these nations God, our Lord, gave in charge to one

*
person called St. PETER, that he might be master and

superior over mankind, to be obeyed and be head of all the
human race, wheresoever they might live, and be of what-
ever law, sect, or belief, giving him the whole world for his
kingdom, lordship, and jurisdiction.

And he commanded him to place his seat in Rome, as a
point most suited whence to rule the world ; so he likewise
permitted him to have and place his seat on any part of the
earth to judge and govern all people, Christians, Moors,
Jews, Gentiles, and of whatever creed beside they might be.
Him they call Papa, which means admirable, greatest father
and preserver, since he is father and governor of all men.

This Saint PETER was obeyed and taken for King, Lord,
and Superior of the universe by those who lived at that
time, and so likewise have all the rest been held who to the
Pontificate were afterwards elected ; and thus has it contin-
ued until now, and will continue to the end of all things.

One of the popes who succeeded him to that seat of dig-
nity of which I spake, as Lord of the world, made a gift of
these islands and main of the ocean sea to the said Emperor
and Queen, and their successors, our Lords in these king-
doms, with all that is in them, as is contained in certain

I S 27.] LO UISTAXA AXD FLORIDA. 1 5 5

writings that thereupon took place, which may be seen if
you desire. Thus are their Highnesses King and Queen of
these islands and continent, and nearly all where they have
been proclaimed have received their majesties, obeyed and
served, and do serve them, as subjects should, with good will
and no resistance, and immediately without delay, directly
as they were informed, obeying the religious men whom
their Highnesses sent to preach to them, and teach our holy
faith of their entire free will and pleasure, without reward or
condition whatsoever, becoming Christians, which they are ;
and their Highnesses received them joyfully and benignly,
ordering them to be treated as their subjects and vassals
were, and you are held and obliged to act as likewise.
Wherefore, as best as you can, I entreat and require you to
understand this well which I have told you, taking the time
for it that is just you should, to comprehend and reflect, and
that you recognize the church as mistress and superior of
the universe, and the high pontiff, called Papa, in its name,
the King and Queen our masters, in their place as Lords
Superiors and Sovereigns of these islands and the main, by
virtue of said gift, and you consent and give opportunity
that these fathers and religious men declare and preach to
you as stated. If you shall do so, you will do well in what
you are held and obliged ; and their Majesties, and I, in
their royal name, will receive you with love arfd charity,
relinquishing in freedom your women, children, and estates,
without service, that with them and yourselves you may do
with perfect liberty all you wish and may deem well ; you

156 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

shall not be required to become Christians except, when
informed of the truth, you desire to be converted to our
Holy Catholic faith, as nearly all the inhabitants of the
other islands have done, and when his Highness will confer
on you numerous privileges and instruction, with many favors.
If you do not this, and of malice you are dilatory, I pro-
test to you, that, with the help of our Lord, I will enter with
force, making war upon you from all directions and in every
manner that I may be able, when I will subject you to obedi-
ence to the church and the yoke of their Majesties ; and I
will take the persons of yourselves, your wives, and your
children to make slaves,* sell and dispose of you, as their

* From the first discovery of the continent of America, the Spaniards com-
menced to carry off the natives to sell for slaves in the West India Islands.
PONCE DE LEON, LUCAS VASQUEZ DE AYLLON, and PAMPHILO DE NARVAEZ,
as well as others, continued this traffic for several centuries.

BARTHOLOMEW DE LAS C\SAS, Bishop of Chiapa> in a cunous memoir entitled
"La Brevissima Relacion de la Destruccion de las Indias," which, by order of
the Emperor CHARLES V., he transmitted in 1543 to the assembly of the prelates
collected at Valladohd, Spain, to reform abuses in the New World and the
West Indies, informs us that * Three meiciless tyrants at different times invaded
the provinces of Florida (referring to the above expeditions), all animated with
the same spirit, and moved by the same designs. They all committed the same
outrages throughout Florida. But God was pleased to punish them after a very
signal manner, for they all came to a miserable end.

u These brutes would doubtless have committed yet moie villainies, had not
tbe just judgment of the Almighty shortened their days.

u When they came into Florida they found it plentifully stored with people
who were wise and well disciplined both in civil aftairs and in morals. They
began to cast a terror through the country by I know not how many massacres ;
so that the poor Indians, who had never known any thing like it, were put into
a great consternation.

" The Spaniards used them as beasts of burden to cany their arms, utensils,

I527-] LO UISIANA AND FLORIDA 157

Majesties shall think fit ; and I will take your goods, doing
you all the evil and injury that I may be able; as to vassals
who do not obey, but reject their master, resist and deny

and piovisions. They put men and women, masters and sen ants, all to the
sword without any respect to age, sex, or qualitj They cut off their lips and
noses, and sent them away in this condition to temiy the rest of the country.
These cruelties hindered the success of the missions of our apostolic men m
this country, who had no good reasons to produce to these poor wretches to
excuse such barbarities as these. One may guess by these cruelties what love the
Indians must have for the Catholics, and what confidence they can put m their
promises. What idea they can have of God when he is described to them as
infinitely good and merciful ? What can they think of His law, which they are
told is so holy and just, when they see those who profess to observe it do not
scruple to commit all kinds of crime ?

" The Spaniards took away over a million of men from the coasts of these
provinces and transported them into the islands of St. John and Hispaniola,
where they perished in the mines, or by other hardships were made to suffer. It
would produce compassion in the hardest hearts to see these coasts that were
once so full of people now absolutely deserts.

" As for the continent, it is of what I know certain that the Spaniards have
ruined ten kingdoms there larger than all Spain by the commission of all sorts
of barbarity and unheard-of cruelties. They have driven away or killed all the
inhabitants, so that all these kingdoms are desolate to this day, and reduced to a
most deplorable condition. We dare assert, without fear of contradiction, that
in the space of these forty years in which the Spaniards exercised their intoler-
able cruelty in this new world, they unjustly put to death many millions of people,
counting men, women, and children.

" The gold and silver these people had in their possession was the motive
that violently prompted the Europeans to persecute and destroy them. In a
word, their avarice and ambition were arrived to an excess beyond imagination.
The immense riches of the New World, the tractable, sweet, and good disposition,
of the Indians, which rendered a descent into their country easy to attempt, have
occasioned all the ravage and spoil, all the horrid massacres and cruelties, which
the Spaniards have caused them to suflfer. They had so little regard for the sal-
vation of their souls, that they would not trouble themselves so much as to speak
of the Christian faith and sacrament to those numberless multitudes of men,

158 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. [1527.

him ; and I declare to you that the deaths and damages that
arise therefrom will be your fault, and not that of his
Majesty, nor mine, nor of these cavaliers who come with
me.

women* and children, whom they sacrificed to their ambition and tyranny, until,
wearied out with repeated cruelties and massacres, they weie compelled to arm
themselves and repel force by force,"

FIRST VOYAGE OF JEAN DE RIBAULT, MADE IX THE REIGN
OF CHARLES IX , KING OF FRANCE, UNDER THE ORDERS
AND INSTRUCTIONS OF GASPARD DE COLIGNY,* GRAND
ADMIRAL OF FRANCE, TO MAKE DISCOVERIES AND
FOUND A COLONY OF FRENCH PROTESTANTS (HUGUE-
NOTS) IN FLORIDA, A. D. 15612

CHAFTE'R I.

HEREAS, in the year of our Lord 1562,
it pleased God .to move your Lordship
to choose and appoint me to discover
and view a certain long coast of the
West Indies from the head of the land
called Florida, drawing toward the north

* GASPARD DE COLIGNY, Grand Admiral of France, Seigneur de Chatillon,
was born at CJiatitlon-sur-JLotng* February 16, 1516. He was distinguished for
his learning and accomplishments, and at the age of twenty-five was Major-
Gen eral of the French infantry, and afterwards created Grand Admiral of
Fiance After the death of HENRY II, he espoused the cause of the French
Protestants (Huguenots) against the Guises, who represented the Roman
Catholics of France, and during the religious wars which drenched that country
in blood, he distinguished himself as an able commander in several important
battles. His sense of leligious obligation was deep and fervent ; and with him
the maintenance of the reformed religion was not to cover a factious ambition,

but was an object of the most serious importance, justified by hib convictions ,
12

160 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1562.

part unto the head of Bretons,* distant from the said head
of Florida f nine hundred leagues, or thereabout, to the end

to \\hich he sacrificed the best yeais of his, life, and finally life itself, in the
Massacie of St BARTHOLOMEW, 1572, m laboring to bung about peace. He was,
in truth, always devoted to the great cause of human impiovement, m all its foims,
laboring dm ing a long life for the advancement of truth, and maintenance of
ju&tice and ordei He was, peihaps, one of the wisest statesmen that France
ever produced In 1555, ^ e projected the enterprise to found a French Protest-
ant colon} in Brazil, hoping to find the double advantage of opening a place of
refuge for the persecuted Protestants, not only of Fiance, but all Euiope, and
clinching his own country fiom a colonial establishment But aftei fitting out
two expeditions, and founding the first Euiopean colony in Biazil, the whole
scheme came to an end by divisions and disagreements among the colonists, and
\vas finally subverted by the Poituguese, who, in 1560, sent out an armed expe-
dition against It, and took possession of the colonial establishment in the bay of
Jtw Janeuo This attempt to found a Fiench colony m Biazil is particularly
interesting, I>\ the fact that ANDRE THEVET, a celebrated Fiench tiavelei and
cobinographei, \vho accompanied the expedition, was aftei wards induced to
vijit the entire coast, both of t North and South America, and paiticulaily
described the eastern coast of Flouda, as high up as St. Helena Sowid, in 32
north latitude, CoLiGNY may be styled the Sir WALTER R A.LEIGH of France
tor, after the failure to found a colony in Brazil, he turned his attention to
ihe eastern Chores of Koith America, the whole of which had become known
to France, from DENYS, 1506, to VERRAZZ^NO, in 1534, and subsequent
e\ploieri-, CAR HER, ROBERVAL, Du MONTS, and especially the Spanish expe-
ditions. He accordingly planned and fitted out the expedition of JEAN DE
RIBAVLT, m 1562, to found a colony of French Piotestantb (Huguenots) in the
reign of CHARLES IX., and who, after founding a colony, returned to Fiance, and
wrote the above account of his expedition and description of the country, which
was followed by two othei expeditions under himself and M RENE GOULAINE
DE LAUDONIERE (See M^t Series of the Historical Collections of Louisiana and
flonda^pp. 177-362^

* The name of Cape Breton, in north latitude 46, is a memorial of the early
Fiench navigator* CARTIER, in 1534, found the capes and bays of Newfound-
land already named by his countrymen.

f At the period whea RIBAULT wrote this narrative of " the true *and last
discoverie of Florida," and for a century or more after, the Spaniards applied

[ 5 62.] LOUISIANA AX> FLORIDA 1 6 1

we might certify and make you a true report of the climate,
fertility, ports, havens, rivers, and generally of all the com-
modities that we have seen and found in that land, and also
to learn what, people were dwelling there, which thing you
have long time ago desired, being stirred thereunto by this
zeal : That France might one day, through new discoveries,
have knowledge of strange countries, and also thereof to re-
ceive by traffic rich and inestimable commodities, as other
nations have done by taking in hand such far voyages, both
to the honor and prowess of their kings and princes, and
also to the increase of profit and use to their countries and
dominions, which is most of all without comparison to be
considered and esteemed.

It seems well that you have been stirred hereunto even of
God, and led to it by the hope and desire you have that a
number of savage people, ignorant of Jesus Christ, may, by
His grace, come to some knowledge of His holy laws and
ordinances. So, therefore, it seems that it has pleased God,
by His good providence, to rescue the care which He has had
of their salvation until this time, and will bring them to our
faith, by Himself, as foreordained.

For if it were needful to show how many from time to
time have gone about to find out this great land and to set-

the name of Florida to all the coast line of country extending from the Si. Law-
rence to the "Rio Grande del Norie" which empties its \\aters into the Gulf of
Mexico. It ^as first translated into English, m 1582, by HAKLUYT, whose black-
letter volume is extremely lare, and is now, for the first time, reprinted in the
United States, with notes and biographical sketch, of the life of Admiral
COLIGNY It is not known to exist In the original French.

l62 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1562.

tie there, who, nevertheless, have always failed and have
been thwarted in their purpose, some by fear of shipwrecks
and some by great storms and tempests, that drove them
back, to their marvelous grief. Of the which there was one,
a famous stranger named SEBASTIAN GABOTTO,* an excellent
pilot, sent thither by King HENRY VII. in 1498, and many
others who could never attain to any habitation nor take
possession thereof a foot of ground, nor yet approach or
enter those fair countries or rivers into which God has
brought us.

Wherefore, my Lord, it may be well said that the living
God hath reserved this great country for your poor servants
and subjects, as well to the end they might be made great
over this poor people and rude nation, as well as to approve
the former love which our kings have had for this discovery.

For the late King FRANCIS I., a prince endued with
excellent virtues, sent in the year 1524, a notable and dis-

* While COLUMBUS and other Spanish and Portuguese navigators weie prose-
cutmg their voyages in search of new countries, HENRY VII. of England, i egret-
ting his indifference regarding the offers made to him by the brothers COLUMBUS,
granted JOHN and SEBASTIAN CABOT (GABOTTO), March 5, 1496, letters patent
for the dij>co\ery and conquest of new lands , and in the month of June of the
following year (1497), they reached the coast of Labiadoi, in lat 50 N , the
inhabitants of which were dressed in the skins of wild animals and aimed vuth
clubs, spears, bows, and arrows On tjie 3d of February, 1498, the King granted a
second patent to JOHN CABOT alone, which is important in establishing the date
of the first discovery of North America by the CABOTS In 1499 SEBASTIAN
CABOT made a third voyage to America, and in this voyage he discovered New-
foundland. In all this time it was believed in Europe that these discoveries
formed a part of the continent of Asia ; but this error soon became manifest, in
1513, when BALBOA discovered the Pacific Ocean

1 562.] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA 163

tinguished man, a Florentine, named JOHN VERRAZANI
(GIOVANNI DA VERRAZZANO),* to discover and explore the
western parts, as far as could be, who sailing from Dicppt
(France) with two vessels little differing m the make and
burden from those two pinnaces of the King's which your
excellency hath ordained for this present expedition. In
the which land they have found the elevation of the pole, in
the twenty-eighth degree north latitude.

The country which he describes is good and fruitful, and
of so good a climate that it is not possible to have any bet-
ter ; being then as yet of no man seen or discovered. But
they not being able to bring to pass at this his first voyage
that which he had intended, nor to arrive in any port, by
numerous disappointments which commonly happen, were

* No exploring expeditions had been undertaken to the New World officially
by the French government prior to 1523. All had been left to private enter-
prise But in thai year FRANCIS I. fitted out four ships and gave the com-
mand to GIOVANNI DA VERRAZZANO. The expedition was partly destined as a
hostile cruise against the Spaniards, as well as to make new discoveries. He
reached the east coast of North America in the latitude of Cape Fear about
34 N. He evidently explored the coast from Florida to Newfoundland, landed
in Chesapeake, New York, and Narraganscit bays, and afterwards explored the
coasts of Maine and Newfoundland. He advanced the knowledge of the country,
and gave to France some claim to an extensive territory, which she availed
herself of, by establishing colonies in Canada and subsequently m Florida.

JACQUES CARTIER, of St. Mala, an experienced navigator, was commissioned
by the King of France to fit out two ships, neither of which exceeded sixty tons
burden, in the spiing of 1534, with a crew not exceeding one hundred and fifty
men, and in twenty days after he set sail he reached the Gulf of St. Lawrence
He coasted Newfoundland as far as Cape JRay, and landing at a point of land
between Ckaleur Bay and Cape de Rcsiers, he took ceremonial possession of the
country around in the name of FRANCIS I., and on the 24th of July he erected

1 64 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1562.

compelled to return into France ; where, after his arrival, he
never ceased to make suit until he was sent again, where at
last he died.

The which occasion gave small courage to send thither
again another expedition, which was the cause that this
laudable enterprise was postponed till 1534, at which time
his Majesty, FRANCIS I., sent thither a pilot of St. Haloes, a
Breton, named JAMES CARTIER, well versed in the art of
navigation, and especially of the north parts, commonly
called the New Land (Newfoundland), led by some hope to
find a passage that goes to the South Seas ; who being not
able at first to bring anything to pass, that he hoped to do,
was sent thither again, the following year, and likewise Le
Sire ROBERALL ;* and, as it is well known, they did occupy

a cross with a shield bearing the arms of France. On the 25th of July he set
sail for France, and amved at St Malo on the 5th of September, 1534.

CARTIER found his native land distracted with lehgious dissensions and
plunged in renewed war with CHARLES V. Severe laws weie decreed against
the Protestants. Scaffolds weie elected, and penal files lighted up in all
parts of France. Amid the din of defensive war and intestine trouble, the
existence of Canada was almost forgotten , and CARTIER waited for better
times to return, which he aftei wards effected. But the result of his several
expeditions was* not encouraging to the King, as no rich mineral productions
had been discovered. But the pious CARIIER strove to impress upon the King
the salubrity, beauty, and richness of the country, and the glory and merit of
extending the blebsed knowledge of the Christian religion among the heathens
of the great West.

* This name must be a misprint. It was meant for FRANCOIS DE LA ROCHE,
Sieur DE ROBERVAL, who was appointed Governor of Canada by FRANCIS I. in
1540, and who sailed for America (Canada), with emigrants, and arrived in
Canada in 1542, just as war was about to recommence between CHARLES V and
FRANCIS I., which lasted about three years

1562.] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 165

and build and plant the King's armies in the north part, <t
good way inland, as far as Tuadu and Ochisaon* Where-
fore, my Lord, believe that a thing so commendable, and
worthy to be attempted, that God would keep and guide us,
desiring always to fulfill your instructions.

When we had fulfilled your orders and made preparation
we, through the favor of God, departed on the iSth Feb-
ruary, 1562, with our two vessels, out of the harbor of C/are
de Grace (Havre de Grace), into the road Caur (Caux); and
the next day hoisted sail, the wind being east, which lasted
five days, that we could not arrive at the Nanche (the
Manche, or English Channel), that is, from between the
coast of Breton (Brittany), and England, and the Isles of
Surlinos (Scilly Islands), and Wesham (Ushant), so that the
wind blowing \\ ith great fury and tempest out of the west
and south-west altogether contrary to our course, and all
that we could do was of no effect, besides the great danger
of losing our masts, as also to be hindered in other matters.
Wherefore, as well to escape other inconvenience which
might follow to the prejudice of our voyage, having regard
also to the danger of death, which some of our gentlemen
and soldiers, who, being troubled with fevers and other
sickness they might fall into ; also for other considerations,
we thought it best to sail into the roads of Brest, in Brit-
tany, to put our sick on land until the tempest was
passed. From whence, after we had remained there two
days, we went to sea again ; so that, my Lord, notwithstand-
ing the sea and winds were against us, yet at the end God

1 66 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

giving us, through His grace and goodness, a most favorable
wind, I determined to sail a new course, which had not yet
been attempted ; traversing the seas of Oction * eighteen
hundred leagues at the least, which is indeed the true and
^hort course that hereafter must be kept to the honor of
our nation, rejecting the old, which so long time hath been
holden as true, which is, as it was thought, a thing impossi-
ble to have the wind at E. N. E., and keep the race and
course we sailed, but that we should be driven towards
Africa, the Canary Isles, Madeira, and other lands adjacent -
And the cause why we have been the more provoked and
assured to take this new course hath been, because it seemed
to every one that \ve might not pass, nor go in this naviga-
tion, without the sight and touching at the Antilles and
Lucayos,f and other lands adjacent, and there stop to take
in fresh water and other necessaries, as the Spaniards do in
their voyage to New Spain : Whereof (thanks be God), we
have no need, nor entered the channel of Boham (Bahama),
which has been thought impossible.

* Supposed to be either " Les Mers d* Occident? the Western or Atlantic

Ocean ; or " La J/er OcJan" the Main Ocean.

f Antilles the Canbbee Islands , Lucayos the Lucayos or Bahama Islands
^ This name is a misprint and must be Bahama r the passage referred to

being through the <&& Bahama Channel and the Gulf of Florida.

1 5 62.]

LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA

I6 7

CHAPTER II.

iJORESEEING also that it was not ex-
pedient for us to pass through the
islands, as well to shun many incon-
veniences that might happen in pass-
ing that way (whereof springeth noth-
ing but innumerable quarrels, pleadings, confusions, and
breach of all worthy enterprises and good navigations,
whereof ensueth complaints and odious questions between
the subjects of the King and his friends and allies), and also
to the end they might understand that, in the time to come
(God having showed us such graces as these his wonderful
benefits first showed to the poor people of this good people
of so gentle a nature, and a country so pleasant and fruitful,
lacking nothing at all that may seem necessary for man's
food), we would not have to do with their islands and other
lands, which (for that they first discovered them) they keep
with much jealousy ; trusting that if God will suffer the
King, through your persuasion, to cause some part of this
incomparable country to be peopled and inhabited with such
a number of his poor subjects as you shall think good, there

1 68 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

never happened in the memory of man so great and good
commodity to France as this ; and, my Lord, for many
causes, whereof a man is never able to write too much,
under the assured hope that we have always had in execut-
ing uprightly that which I had in charge of you, God would
prosper our ways and navigation.

After we had constantly and diligently determined upon
the way, we should have thought tedious to our company
if it had been known unto any without turning or wavering
from their first intention. And notwithstanding that Satan
did often what he could to throw obstructions and troubles
in our way, according to his accustomed subtilties, so it is
come to pass that God, by his goodness, hath given us grace
to make the greatest traverse of the sea that ever was made
in the memory of man, in longitude from east to west ; and,
therefore, it was commonly said, both in France and Spain,
and also among us, that it was impossible for us to safely
arrive thither where the Lord did conduct us. Albeit, that
all mariners* cards do set the coasts with shipwrecks, which
we have found otherwise, as follows :

Thursday, the last of April (soth), 1562, we discovered
and approached a fair coast, stretching a great length, cov-
ered with an infinite number of high and large trees, we
being seven or eight leagues from the shore, the country
seeming to us a plain without any appearance of hills ; and,
arriving within four or five leagues of the land, we cast
anchor in ten fathoms of water, the bottom of the sea being
covered with osiers and fast hold on the south side, as far

1562.] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 169

as a certain cape situated under the latitude of mne-and-
twenty degrees and a half, which we have named Cape
Francois (now called Canaveral}.

We could neither see river nor bay, wherefore we sent
our boats, manned with men of experience, to sound the
coast near shore, who, returning to us about one o'clock p. M.,
declared that they had found, among other things, eight
fathoms of water at the hard bank of the sea. Whereupon,
having diligently weighed our anchors and hoisted our sails,
with fair wind we sailed along the coast with unspeakable
pleasure of the odorous perfume and beauty of the scene.

And because there appeared unto us no appearance of any
port, about the setting of the sun we cast anchor again ;
which done, we did behold to and fro the goodly order of
the woods, wherewith God had decked every way the said
land. Then perceiving toward the north a leaping and
breaking of the \\ater, as a stream falling out of the land
into the sea, for which we hoisted sails again to double the
same while it was yet day. And as we had so done and
passed beyond it, there appeared unto us a wide entry of a
fair river, which caused us to cast anchor again nearer to
land, to the end, next day, that we might see what it was ;
and though the wind blew for a time boisterously to the
shoreward, yet the hold and anchorage was so good that
one cable and one anchor held us fast without danger or
sliding.

The next day, in the morning, being the 1st of May,
1562, we set out with two barges and a boat well trimmed

IJO HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1562.

to enter this river, which might have astonished and caused
us to return to the ships if God had not speedily brought us
in, where finding thirty-six fathoms of water, we entered a
magnificent and great river,* which as we found it to in-
crease in depth and width, boiliirg and roaring through the
multitude of all kinds of fish. Having passed its mouth,
we began to see a great many of the natives, who ap-
proached us without fear, pointing out to us the best land-
ing-place, and on our part we gave them every assurance
of friendship. Forthwith one of the best appearance among
them, a brother of one of the kings or chiefs, who ordered
one of the natives or Indians to enter the river and ap-
proach our boats to show us the best place for landing.
Seeing this, and without any more doubting, we landed and
rewarded him with a looking-glass and other pretty things
of small value, and afterward he ran to his lord or king,
who forthwith sent me his girdle, made of red leather, in
token of friendship ; and I began to go toward him, when
he came toward me with all his men, who received me kindly
and modestly ; yea, more than our men did.

And after we had congratulated him kindly, we fell to the
ground on our knees a short distance from them, to give
thanks to God, and beseech him to continue still his good-
ness towards us, and bring to the knowledge of our Saviour
Christ this poor people.

* This was probably the river now called St jfofcfs, as there is no other near
the locality which corresponds with the author's description.

1562.] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 171

While we were thus praying, they sitting upon the ground,
which was strewed with bay branches, they beheld and
hearkened to us attentively without speaking or moving;
and as I made a sign unto their King, lifting up mine arm,
and stretching forth one finger, to make them look up heaven-
ward ; he, likewise lifting up his arm towards heaven, put
forth two fingers, whereby it seemed that he wished to tell
us that he worshiped the Sun and Moon for their gods ; as
afterwards we understood it so.

In the meantime their number increased, and thither came
the King's brother who was first with us, then the sisters,
wives, and children, and being thus assembled, they caused
a great many bay boughs cut, and therewith a place too
dressed for us, distant from theirs two fathom ; for it is their
manner to talk and bargain sitting; and the chief or king to
be separated from the common people ; with a show of great
obedience to their kings, elders, and superiors.

They are all naked, of good stature, well shapen of body
as any people in the world; very gentle, courteous, and
good-natured. The most part of them cover their waists
and privities with hart (deer) skins painted with a variety of
colors ; and the forepart of their bodies and arms they also
paint with pretty devices in azure, red, and black, so well
and properly, that the best painters of Europe could not
amend (do) better.*

* " Dwelling under warm skies," says JONfcS on the antiquities of the Southern
Indians, *' the Southern Indians passed the greater part of the year in a state
of almost entire nudity, and delighted in painting their bodies with the most

1/2 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1562.

The women have their bodies covered with a certain herb,
hke unto moss, whereof the cedar and other trees are always
covered. The men also trim themselves after sundry
fashions. They are of tawny color, hawked nosed, and of
pleasant countenance. The women are well formed, and
will not suffer any one to approach too near them. But we
were not in their houses, nor were we near any of them.

After we tarried on the north side of the river (which we
have called J/#j f , because we discovered it on the first day
of May), for the most part of the day, we made alliance and
entered into amity with them, and presented the King and
his brethren with garments of blue cloth variegated with
yellow flatr dc luce. And they seemed sorry when we took
our departure, so that most of them went into the water up
to their necks to set our boats afloat, putting into them
different kinds of fish,* which they took from their weirs,
built in the water with great reeds, so well and cunningly
set together after the fashion of a labyrinth, with many turns
and crooks, which it was impossible to construct without
much skill and industry.

But desiring to spend the rest of the day on the other

brilliant colors they could command, and both men and women coveied their
arms and bodies with ornaments of gold jewelry, pearls, beads, shells, etc., and
when the grave opened to receive them, these prized possessions were deposited
w ith them. The tvmuh of the South are now the stoiehouses fiom whence are
obtained these ornaments " {as well as fine specimens of Indian pottery).

*" Trout, mullets, perch, bass, and a variety of other fish different from
ours.*' (See Historical Collections of Louisiana and Florida, p. 178, Vol. I ,
New Series.)

15^2.] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA. 173

side of the river, to become acquainted with those Indians
we saw, we went there without any difficulty, and landed
amongst them, who received us gently and kindly, giving us
of their fruits mulberries, raspberries, and other fraits they
found in their way. Soon after this came the King with his
brethren, and others, with bows and arrows in their hands,
with their behavior soldierlike and warlike and bold as may
be. They were naked and painted as the others ; their hair
was long and trussed up, with a lace made of herbs, to the
top of their heads, but they had neither their children nor
wives with them.

After we had lovingly entertained and presented them
with like gifts of haberdashery wares, cutting hooks, and
hatchets, and clothed the King and his brethren with like
robes as we had given to them on the other side, we entered
and explored their country thereabouts, which Is the fairest,
fruitfulest, and pleasantest of all the world, abounding in
honey, venison, wild game, forests, woods of all sorts, cypress,
magnolia, cedar, palms, and bays the highest and greatest ;
and vines with grapes, which without art and man's help
or trimming will grow to the tops of the oaks and other
trees of great height. And the sight of the fair meadows is a
pleasure not able to be expressed with speech ; full of herns,
bitterns, curlews, mallards, geese, woodcocks, and other
small birds; with harts, hinds, bucks, swine, and other
kind of wild beasts which we saw by their tracks, and after-
wards in other places by their cries and howling at night.
Also we saw conies and hares ; silkworms in great number,

174 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1562.

and a great deal larger and better than our silkworms. To
conclude, it is marvelous to think of the things seen there,
and the incomparable land which never yet has been
plowed, that brings forth according to the first nature
wherewith the Eternal God hath indued it.

About their houses, they labor and till the ground, sowing
their fields with a grain called maize, whereof they make
their meals ; and in their grounds they plant beans, gourds,
citrons, cucumbers, peas, and many other fruits and roots un-
known to us. Their spades and mattocks are made of wood
so well and fitly as it is possible, which they make with certain
stones, oyster shells and mussels, with which they also
make their bows and arrows and short lances, and cut and
polish all sorts of wood that they employ about their build-
ings. They also grow many walnut-trees, hazel and cherry
trees, very fair and large.

And generally we have seen the same simples and herbs
in France, and of the like goodness and flavor. The people
here are of great strength and good archers. The strings to
their bows are made of leather, and their arrows are of reed,
which they head with the teeth of fish. As we now demand
of them concerning the country we call Sivola* (Ctbola\

* The correct form of this name appears to be Sibola or Cibola, which is the
name of an Indian district, or province, on the river Gila, about one thousand
miles north-west from Mexico. The attention of the Spaniaids was first
directed towards it by a missionary named MARCOS DE NiA, who, in the
year I539> penetrated into this unconqueied region r and, on his return to Mex-
ico, gave such a glowing description of its wealth and population, and also its
beven great cities, that an expedition was fitted out to conquer the country undei

] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 175

whereof some have written not to be far thence, and be
some leagues situate within the land, and toward the sea
they called the South, where they might go thither with
their boats, by rivers, in twenty days. They that have
written of this kingdom and town of Sivola, and other towns
and kingdoms thereabouts, say that there is a great abun-
dance of gold and silver, precious stones, and other great
riches, and that the people had their arrows headed with iron,
and sharp-pointed turquoises. Thus, the night approach-
ing, it was necessary for us to return on shipboard. We
accordingly took leave of them, much to their grief, but
more to ours, for we had no one to (pilot) enter the rivers
with our ships.

It was not their custom either to eat or drink from sunrise
till sunset : yet the King openly would needs drink with us,
praying us to give him the cup whereout we had drunk ; and
so, making him to understand that we would see him again
next day, we retired to our ships, which lay about six leagues
from the haven to the sea.

the command of RODRIGO DEL Rio, the Governor of New Biscay, without much
success Recent explorations, however, in Arizona, by military expeditions of
United States troops, confirm in part the existence of those cities. The names
by which they are now most widely known, are Oryi/ta, Skf^o-pav-wee^ Shc-pa-
Ia-wei, Mee-shom-o-neer^ Moqzti^ M&-guec-nak> and To-wa/i, still inhabited by
the descendants of the Aztecs, who were driven out of Mexico by CORTEZ
Then government is a conservative republic. Power is vested in thirteen
caciques, or chiefs Suffrage is universal, and the people are far advanced in
civilization.
13

176

HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

[1562.

CHAPTER III.

HE next morning we returned to land
again, accompanied with the captain's
gentlemen, and soldiers, and other per-
sons, carrying with us a pillar or column
of hard stone, with the King's arms en-
graved thereon, to plant and set the

same at the entry of the port, in some high place, where it
might be easily seen ; and being come thither before the
Indians were assembled, we discovered, on the south side of
the river, a place very suitable for the purpose, upon a little
hill, compassed with cypress, bays, palms, and other trees,
with sweet-smelling and pleasant shrubs, in the middle
whereof we planted the first boundary or limit of his Maj-
esty.

This done, perceiving our first Indians assembling, not
without showing some dislike of those on the south side,
where we had set the limit, tarried for us in the same place
where they met with us the day before, seeming to us there
was some enmity between them and others. But when they
perceived our long stay on this side, they ran to see what
we had done in that place, where we landed first, and had

1562.] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. IJJ

set our limit. They viewed it a great while without touch-
ing it in any way, or ever speaking to us about it at any time
after. Howbeit we could scarcely depart from them without
great grief, and they continued to follow us along the river
from all parts, presenting us with hart skins, painted and
unpainted ; meal, little cakes, fresh water, roots like rinbabe
(rhubarb), which they hold in great estimation, and make
use of for medicine. They also brought to us bags of red
colors, and some small spices like unto vire, perceiving among
them fair things painted as it had been with grains of scarlet,
showing unto us they had in their land gold, silver, and copper,
of which we bought some ; also lead, turquoises, and great
abundance of pearls, which they told us they took out of
oysters along the river side ; and as fair pearls as are found
in any country of the world. For we saw on one of their
men, as we entered our boats, a pearl hanging to a collar of
gold about his neck, as great as an acorn. This man, as fast
as he had taken fish in one of their fishing packs (weirs),
brought them to our boats j and one of our men, perceiving
the great size thereof, and pointing his finger towards It,
the Indian drew back, and would not come near our boats
for fear that if he did we would take his collar and pearl
from him, but which he would have given us for a looking-
glass or a knife. He was one of the best-looking men of all
the company. The day being well^ gone, which grieved us
very much y for the commodity of great riches to be obtained
here, and desiring to employ the rest of the day with the
Indians on the south side, which we talked with the day

1 78 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ I $62.

before, who still remained to look at us, we crossed the
river to their shore, where we found them patiently waiting
for us quietly, and in good order, with new paintings upon
their faces, and feathers upon their heads.

The King, with his bow and arrows lying by him, sat on
the ground, covered with green boughs, among his followers,
who were fine-looking and well-formed men, very active, and
having upon their heads their hair trussed up, gathered, and
worked together with great cunning, and fastened after the
form of a diadem. One of them had, hanging about his
neck, a round plate of red copper, well polished, with a
smaller one of silver hung in the middle of it ; and on his
ears a small plate of copper, with which they wipe the sweat
from their bodies.

They pointed to us there was a great store of this metal
in the country, about five or six days' journey from thence,
both on the south and north side of this river, which they
went thither in their boats' to collect, which boats they make
of one piece of a tree, working on it so cunningly that they
can put in these boats fifteen or twenty men.

When they row, they stand up, having short oars, after
the fashion of a peel ; and being thus among them, they
gave us meal dressed and baked, good and -well-tasted ; also
beans and fish, crabs, lobsters, crevices, and many other kind
of good fish, and showjng us their dwellings afar off. The
night now approaching, we returned to our ships with much
sorrow, for we durst not hazard our ship, by reason of a
bar of sand that was at the mouth of the river, notwith-

1 5 62 .] LO VIST AN A AND FLORIDA 1 79

standing at full tide there were at least two fathoms and a
half of water, and is but a leap over a surge to pass this
bar, not passing two cables in length, and then afterwards
six or seven fathoms of water everywhere ; so that it made a
very fair haven, and ships from four to six hundred tons may
enter therein at all floods, yea, of a far greater burden, if
there were Frenchmen that might pilot the entry as they do
in France.

The situation is in thirty degrees north latitude, a good
climate, healthful, good temperature, delightfully pleasant,
the natives of a good and amiable disposition, who willingly
obey, yea, content to serve those that shall, with gentleness
and humanity, go about to win them, as it is needful for
those that be sent thither hereafter so to do, and as I have
charged those that be left there to do, to the end that they
may ask and learn of them where they get their gold, cop-
per, and turquoises, and other things yet unknown to us, by
reason of the short time we remained there ; for if any rude
or rigorous means should be used towards these people,
they would fly hither and thither through the forests and
country, and abandon their habitations*

The next day, being the 3d of May (1562), being desirous
to find out harbors to anchor in, we hoisted sail again, and
after we had ranged the coast as near shore as we could,
there appeared unto us, about seven leagues on this side of
the river May, a great opening or bay of some river,
whither we sent one of our boats, and there found one entry
almost like ther river May^ and within the same of as great

180 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1562.

depth, and as large, and dividing itself into great streams
stretching towards the highlands, with many others of less
size, which divide the country into beautiful and great lands,
and small and fair meadows.

Having entered about three leagues, we found a place
commodious, strong, and pleasant of situation, and certain
Indians who received us friendly. Nevertheless, we ap-
proached so near their houses, it seemed to offend them,
and that we went there contrary to their wish, for at the
noise and cries they made, their wives and children escaped
into the woods with all their household goods. We after-
wards went to their houses, but none of the natives would
accompany us.

Their houses are made of wood, fitly and closely set up,
and covered with reeds, the most part after the fashion of a
pavilion. But there was one house among the rest very
long and wide, with seats round about made of reeds nicely
put together, which serve both for beds and seats, two feet
high from the ground, set upon round pillars painted red,
yellow, and blue, and neatly polished. Some of these people
observed at a distance that we did not, in any manner, injure
their dwellings nor gardens; they returned to us before our
leaving, seeming well satisfied, and gave us water, fruits, and
hart's skins.

It is a place of wonderful fertility, and the ground so rich
that it is likely that it would bring forth wheat and corn
twice a year ; and similar and like unto the land we found
upon the river May. Without coming into the sea, this arm

LO UJSIANA AND FLORIDA. 1 8 1

doth divide and make many other Isles of May, as also many
great islands, by which we travel from one island to another,
between land and land ; and it seems that men may sail
without danger through all the country, and never enter the
great ocean, which is a great advantage.

This is the land of Checere* whereof some have written,
and may have explored for the great riches they perceived
by some Indians to be found there. It is in so good a
climate that none of our men, though we were there in the
hottest season of the year, the sun entering Cancer, were
troubled with any sickness. The people there live long and
in great health and strength, so that the old men go without
staves, and are able to go and run like the youngest, and are
only known by the wrinkles in their face, and decay of sight.

We departed from them very friendly, and with their con-
sent. But the night overtaking us, we were compelled to
lie in our ships all that night till it was day, floating upon
this river, which we have called the Seine, because the entry
of it is as broad as from Havre de Grace to Honfleur.

At the break of day we espied, out of the south side, one
of the most pleasant meadow grounds that might be seen,
into which we went, finding at the very entry a long, fair,
and great lake, and an innumerable number of footsteps of
the great harts and hinds, their steps being all fresh and
new, and it seemeth that che people nourish them like tame

*The adjacent district to Broad river, of Port Royal, South Carolina, now
called St. Helena* is the Chichora (CAecere of Ribault} of the old Spanish maps

1 82 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ 1 562 .

cattle, m great herds ; for we saw the steps of Indians who
followed them.

The channel and depth of the river Seine is on that side
of the meadow which is in the Isle of May ; and after re-
turning to our ships we continued to sail along the coast as
near the shore as we could, to know more and more of the
coast. And after we had sailed six or seven leagues more,
there appeared unto us another bay, where we cast anchor,
and, stopping all night, in the morning we went thither, and
finding by our sounding at the entry many banks, we durst
not enter there with our great ship, having named the river
Somme* which is eight nine, ten, eleven fathoms deep, divid-
ing itself into many great islands and small meadow grounds
and pastures, and everywhere the greatest abundance of fish ;
and on the north-west side there is a great river that cometh
from the country of great extent, and another on the east
side, which return into the sea.

So that, my Lord, it is a country full of havens, rivers, and
islands of such fertility as cannot with tongue be expressed ;
and where, in short time, great and precious commodities
might be found. And, besides this, we discovered seven
great rivers more, cutting and dividing the land into fair and
great islands.

* The river Somme appears to correspond most with the river St. Ilia and
Jykttvc St Andrew's Sound.

1562.]

LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA.

CHAPTER IV.

HE Indian inhabitants there are all alike
in appearance and manners, and the
country in fertility apt and, extensive
throughout to bear and bring forth
abundantly all that men would sow and
plant upon it. There are everywhere
the highest and greatest pine trees that can be seen, good
smelling, and where might be gathered, cutting only the
bark, as much rosin, turpentine, and frankincense as men
would desire. Wherefore, being not able to enter and lie
with our great vessels there, we could not remain any
longer, nor enter far into the rivers and countries as we
would have desired, for it is well known how many accidents
have happened unto men attempting new discoveries, but
also in all places by leaving their great vessels in the sea, far
from land. As for the other rivers, we have given them the
following names ; and to the islands adjoining them the same
name that the next river hath, as you will see by the maps or
sea-cards (charts) that I have made thereof. As to the fourth,
the name of Loire ; to the fifth, Charnet ; to the sixth, Caro ;

184 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

to the seventh, Belle ; to the eighth, Grande ; to the ninth,
Port Royal; and to the tenth, Belle Voir*

Upon Whitsunday, the 2/th of May, 1562, after we had
considered that there was no remedy but to endeavor to find
a harbor for our ships, as well as to overhaul and trim them,
as well as to get fresh water, wood, and other necessaries,
whereof we were of the opinion there was no fitter place
than Port Royal, and when we had sounded the channel,
thanked be God, we entered safely therein with our ships,
against the opinion of many, finding the same one of the
greatest and fairest of the greatest havens of the world.

Howbeit, it must not be forgotten, that in approaching
it within seven leagues of the land, that on the east side,
drawing towards the south-east, the land is flat, nevertheless,
at a full sea-tide there is everywhere four fathoms of water
keeping in the channel.

* The names of these rivers, as given by LAUDONNIERE, in his history of the
first discovery and settlement of Flonda, published in the first volume of the
Historical Collections of Louisiana and Florida, new series, 1869, are Loire,
Ckarente^ Garonne, Gironde, Belle, Grande, and the last, Bellevoir No indica-
tions are given in the text by which these seven rivers can be distinguished at the
present day. More than one writer has offered conjectures on this point. The
same remark will apply to the two rivers named respectively, by M RiBAULT,
Libourm and Chenonceau. The latter is probably Archers or Scull Creek, about
six miles from the present town of Beaufort. The rivers discovered by RIBAULT
may perhaps correspond to those known to us at present, and the following may
be a correct classification of them, viz. May to the Si. John's , Seine, the St.
Marys; Somme, the Satilla ; Loire, the Altamaha,, Charante, the Newport y
Garvnnt, the Ogeckee ; Gtronde, the Savannah; Belle (voirj, the May, in South
Carolina : Grande^ the Broad; Port Royal, the Port RoyaL The Broad river,
says CARDENAS, " Ensayo Chronologico de la Florida," is the Jordan of South
Carolina, and also by VASQUEZ DE AYLLOJT, who visited it in 1520.

1562.] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 185

In this part there are many rivers, some large and some
small, where, without danger, the greatest ships of the woild
may be harbored, and where we saw no Indians inhabiting
thereabouts. The port and river is nearly ten or twelve
leagues up in the country, although it is one of the most
fruitful countries that ever was seen, and where nothing
lacketh, and also as good as can be found in other places.

Here we found a great number of pepper-trees, the pepper
yet green, and not ready to be gathered. Also the best
water in the world, and so great a variety of fishes that you
may take them without net or fishing-rod, as many as you
will. Also an innumerable variety of wild game ; and on
the north-east and east side of the small islands there are
bushes of grapes which one may gather and carry away.

There are also to be seen a great number of herns, bit-
terns, curlews, and small birds. We found the Indians here
more suspicious than others we had seen before ; yet after
we had been with them in their houses, and showed them
courtesies, and leaving with them knives, beads, and looking-
glasses, which they admire and esteem above pearls and
gold to give to their wives and children, they became less
suspicious.

For some of them came to our boats, of which we took
two of them on board our ships, clothing and using them as
kindly as possible. But they ceased not day nor night to
lament, and at length they ran away. Although I was
willing to bring some of them with us, according to your
wishes on behalf of yourself and the Princes, yet I forbore

I 86 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ 1 562.

to do so, for many considerations and reasons, for we were
in doubt that, leaving some of our men to settle in their
country, the men, women, and children would not have
ceased to pursue them till they returned to their country.
. This is the river Jordan* in my opinion, whereof so much
has been spoken, which is very fair, and the country good,
both for the convenience of habitation, and also for many
other things which would be too long to write.

On the 3Oth of May we planted another column or pillar,
engraved with the King's arms, on the south side, on high
ground, at the entrance of a great river, which we called
Libourne, where there is a lake of fresh water very good, and
on the same side, a little lower down towards the entrance
of the harbor, is one of the fairest fountains that a man may
drink of, which rushes down to the river from a high bank f
out of a red sandy soil, and yet, for all that, fruitful and good
air, where it would seem that some Indians have fair
houses.

There we saw fair and great vines, with grapes hanging in

* The JSroaetiiver of Port Royal, South Carolina " The nearest river," says
BRIGSTOCK, who traveled in Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, in 1623, to Viigima,
" was the Jordan, which lies in thirty-two degrees north latitude, from whence
twenty leagues farther south is the promontory of St Helena, near Port Royal
where the French began their settlement. Between the Jordan and St Helena
are Oristanum and Cayuga ; Onstanum lying four leagues from Cayuga* From
St. Helena to Dos Baxos is five leagues, and from thence to Bay Asapo is three
leagues ; thence to Capula, eight leagues ; thence to Akamy is twenty-three
leagues, and to San Matteo (now called St. John's river) fifty-two leagues."

f Probably Hilton Head, where in after years (1863) the batteries of the
Southern Confederacy fired upon the war ships of the United States of America.

IS62.] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA 187

large clusters, and large and small trees ; which country
seemeth to be the pleasantest and convenient for settlement.
Wherefore, my Lord, trusting that you will not think it amiss,
considering the commodities that may be sent from thence,
if we leave a number of men there, to fortify and provide
themselves with necessary things ; for in all new discoveries
the chiefest thing to be done is to fortify and people the
country. I had no sooner proposed to make a settlement
there, than a large number with good feelings consented,
and we had much to do to restrain them from their impor-
tunity. Especially many of our shipmasters and principal
pilots and others we could not spare. Nevertheless, we left
there thirty gentlemen, soldiers and mariners, and at their
own request and prayer, and by the advice of the gentlemen
sent on behalf of the Prince and yourself.* And having left

* The political state of affairs in France at the time of RIBAULT'S return pre-
vented any fmther attention being directed towards this colony until 1564 But
on the return of peace, M LAUDONNIERE was sent with three ships to cany
succors to the infant colony He arrived on the coast of Florida on the 22d of
June, 1564, and, finding the settlement at Ckarlesfort abandoned, he selected
another spot for the colony near the mouth of the river May, now called St
John, where he erected a fort and gave it the name of Fort Carolin* in honor
of CHARLES IX. of France. He afterwards wrote a history of the Colonization
of Florida, which is printed in the first volume of the new series of the "His-
torical Collection of Louisiana and Florida," 1869. It is somewhat remarkable
that several of the primitive North American colonies were settled by people
who repaired to them on account of religious oppression at home. New England
was colonized by Puritans exiled by Royal and Episcopal tyranny. Virginia ,* r as
replenished by Cavaliers and Episcopal fugitives from Republican and Puritan
ascendency ; while Maryland was founded by Catholics, who had left England
and Ireland to escape Protestant intolerance ; and had the French Protestants

1 88 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [1562.

Captain ALBERT DE LA PlERRIA, an officer of experience,
the first that offered to establish a settlement, and further,
by their advice and choice fortified themselves on the north
side of an island,* upon a place of strong situation, upon
a river which we named Chenonceau, and named the fort
Charlesfort-

After I had instructed and duly admonished them of what
they should do, as well for their manner of proceeding and
good behavior of the colony, on the gth day of June, 1562,
we set sail from Port Royal and sailed along the coast to the
fortieth degree of north latitude. And forasmuch as there
came upon us stormy and cloudy weather, and very uncom-
fortable for us, and considering, amongst other things, that
ue had lost our cables, which is the principal thing for them
\\ho go to discover new countries, where continually, both
night and day, they must lie at anchor; also our provisions
being damaged, and lack of boatswains to direct our barges,
and have our ships supplied. The statement made by our
pilots and some others that had been at some places where
we purposed to visit, and the danger also and inconvenience
that might happen to us, and by reason of the great fogs on
the sea, that had already come, we concluded it was too
late in the season to undertake this thing. And having
weighed and considered also that it was important and

succeeded in Florida and South Carolina, those States would also have been
among the number ^hich religious intolerance had forced into existence.

* It is generally supposed that Charhsfort was constructed on this island,
named in old Spanish maps " Santa. Cruz," and near the present beautiful town
of Beaufort, one of the oldest settlements in North America.

LO UISIANA AND FLORIDA 1 89

necessary that your Lordship should with diligence be in-
formed of the result of the voyage, and through the help of
God we returned directly home, to render an account of our
voyage.

Praying God may please to keep your Lordship in good
health, etc.

On his arrival in France, RIBAULT found the country in a state of
great commotion The civil \\ar between the Huguenots and the
Catholics was raging, and neither the King nor COLIGXY had time
to listen to RIBAULT'S solicitations to send relief to the colonists left
m French Florida. These colonists remained, therefore, during the
remainder of 1562-3, without assistance from France ; and, after
many trials and sufferings, they were at last forced to abandon their
settlement and return to France.

At the close of 1563 peace \vas concluded between the Catholics
and Protestants, and COLIGNY reminded the King of the colony left
among the sa\ages on a wild coast, and laid before him a plan for
another expedition for their relief. Thereupon, three vessels, with
permission of the King (CHARLES IX.), were fitted out, under the
command of Captain REXE DE LAUJDOXXIERE, one of Captain
RIBAULT'S officers on the first expedition, with instructions to make
an accurate description and map of the country

The expedition was joined by several young noblemen of France,
who equipped themselves at their own expense. Some veteran soldiers
were added, and two of the most celebrated French manners of the
age, the brothers M. and T. LE VASSEUR, as pilots, and the fleet
arrived in Florida June 22, 1564. Taking into consideration that
1 4 Port Royal," where RIBAULT had established his colony in 1562,
was not a desirable place, he proceeded to the river May (Si. John's),
took possession of that country in the name of his sovereign, and
built a fort, which he called, in honor of CHARLES IX., "La Caroling
and sent a report of his proceedings to Admiral COLIGNY.

190 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS

In the following } ear, after many delays, another expedition was
fitted out under the command of Captain RIBAULT, consisting of
seven ships with provisions, manned by several hundred soldiers/to
give relief and found a complete colony, and arrived off the mouth
of the river May August 27, 1565. Meanwhile, the Spanish govern-
ment had been apprised of the expedition of RIBAULT, and dispatched
an expedition under Don PEDRO MENENDEZ DE AVILES to drive the
colonists out of Florida, and take possession of the country, which
by right of first discover}*, as well as for other reasons, was claimed to
be a part of the Spanish dominions , and on the arrival of the Span-
ish fleet, without giving any warning, at once made show of an attack,
and the French fleet finding resistance impossible, as Captain RIBAULT
was then paying a visit to the colony, the commander set sail for the
open sea to watch the movements of the commander of the Spanish
fleet, who set sail to take refuge in the harbor of St. Augustine
Meanwhile, RIBAULT rejoined his fleet and set sail to attack the Span-
iards, but before he could reach them, the French fleet were wrecked
in a storm and drove ashore not far from Matanzas Inlet, where those
who effected a landing were barbarously butchered by the orders of
Don PEDRO MENENDEZ ADELANTADO, of Florida ; and, in the summer
of 1567, he returned to Spain to make report of his grand achieve-
ments, and to receive the promised rewards from the King for the
capture of "Fort Carolm," on the river May, and the massacre of
the almost defenseless garrison, and expulsion of the French from
Florida.

See Historical Collections of Louisiana and Florida, new series, pp. 178-
324 ; Collections of the Maine Historical Society, p. 432. The Narratives of
Mendoza and Soils are printed in this volume.

HAPPY RESULT AND PROSPEROUS VOYAGE OF THE FLEET
COMMANDED BY THE ILLUSTRIOUS CAPTAIN-GENERAL
PEDRO MENENDEZ DE AVILES, WHICH SAILED FROM
CADIZ ON THE MORNING OF THURSDAY, JUNE 2Srn, FOR
THE COAST OF FLORIDA, AND ARRIVED THERE ON THE
28TH OF AUGUST, 1565.

FRANCISCO LOPEZ DE MENDOZA GRAJALES,
Chaplain of the Expedition,

CHAPTER I.

HE Lord having granted us favorable
weather from the first, five days' sailing
brought us in sight of fche Lanzarote
Islands and Fuerte Ventura. The fol-

4

lowing Wednesday, July 5, 1365, we
reached the Canary Islands, which are

two hundred and fifty leagues from Cadiz, where we stopped
three days to lay In a supply of wood and water.

* MENENDEZ set sail from Cadiz on the 2gth June, 1565, with eleven ships
leaving the smaller vessels of his fleet to follow. His whole force amounted t?f
two thousand six hundred and forty-six persons (in thirty-four vessels, one' of
14

192 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

The following Sunday, July 8, our fleet, composed of eight
ships, under the direction of our general, left the Canary
Islands, and proceeded to the Island of Dominica, which
was to be conquered from the Caribbce Indians. Unfor-
tunately, the very evening we set sail, our first galley and a
patache became separated from us. For two days we
coasted up and down, hoping to rejoin them, but without
any success ; and our admiral, seeing that we should not be
able to accomplish it, gave the order for us to sail directly to
Dominica, where we were to await them in case they had
not arrived before us. During this voyage a shallop, or
boat, commanded by Capt. FRANCESCO SANCHEZ, sprung
aleak, and as it got beyond the control of the crew, he
asked assistance from us, but it was impossible to give him
any. The pilot wishing to continue to sail with the other
vessels until they should arrive at their destination, and
have the leak repaired there, the captain and a soldier had
recourse to their swords to oblige the pilot to return to
port, being fearful lest they should all be drowned. The
pilot declared himself unable to do this on account of the
rough weather, so they decided to make for the cape on the
south-west in order to reach the land as soon as possible.
Thus it happened that we were obliged to leave them, which
we did with deep regret and great anxiety as to what would

which was the Bag-ship San Pelayo, of nine hundred and ninety-six tons),
among which -were twelve Fianciscans eight Jesuits, and other ecclesiastics,
and many Knights of Galicia, Biscay, and the Asturias. (See Parkman's Pioneers
of Fmnce in tke Neij World?)

] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 193

become of them. The five vessels which remained of our
fleet had a prosperous voyage the rest of the \\ay, thanks to
our Lord and His blessed mother. Up to Friday, the 2Oth,
we had very fine weather, but at ten o'clock that day a
violent wind arose, which by two in the afternoon had
become the most frightful hurricane one could imagine.
The sea, which rose to the very clouds, seemed about to
swallow us up alive, and such was the fear and apprehension
of the pilot and other sailors, that I exerted myself to exhort
my brethren and companions to repentance. I represented
to them the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, His justice
and His mercy, and with so much success that I passed the
night in confessing them.

Very often the sea washed completely over the deck
where we were gathered, one hundred and twenty men
having no other place to go, as there was only one between-
decks, and that was full of biscuit, wine, and other provisions.
We were in such great danger that it was found necessary
to lighten the vessel, and we threw a great man}" barrels of
water into the sea, as well as our cooking apparatus and
seven millstones which we were taking with us. Most of
the reserve rigging and the great ship's cable were cast over-
board, and still the waves continued to break over us.
The admiral then resolved to throw all the chests of the men
into the sea, but the distress of the soldiers was so great
that I felt constrained to throw myself at his feet and beg
him not to do it. I reminded him that we ought to trust to
the great mercy of our Lord, and, like a true Christian, he

1 94 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ 1 5 6 S

showed confidence in God, and spared the luggage. When
Jesus Christ permitted the return of day, we looked at each
other as at men raised from the dead, and though our
suspense during Saturday was no less than that of the pre-
ceding night, light itself was a consolation to us ; but when
night, however, found us again still in the same dangerous
situation, we thought we must surely perish, and during this
whole night I preached to the crew, and exhorted them to
put their trust in God. Sunday morning came, and your
Lordship can fancy how we rejoiced to see daylight once
more, although the storm continued unabated all day, and
until noon of the following Monday, when our Lord deigned
to have compassion and mercy on us, and calmed the fury
of the winds and waves.

When the tempest arose our five vessels were sailing in
company, but during the night the hurricane was so
violent that they were driven in different directions,
and we lost sight of one another for three days. Finally,
one morning, we saw a ship approaching which we recog-
nized as one of our fleet, although we had at first feared it
was French.

We were all so tired, and our minds so confused by
what we had suffered, that the pilots lost all calculations
of reckoning as to what was our proper course ; but, inspired
by the Holy Ghost, they directed the men to steer W. S. W.,
and we came in sight of the Island of Desirade.

On Sunday, August 5, the day of Notre Dame des
Neiges, just as we were approaching the island, we were

I5 6 S-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 19$

assailed by a heavy swell and a westerly gale which drove us
back to the Island of Dominica, inhabited by Canbbcc* In-
dians, where we entered the harbor about nine o'clock in the
evening. As soon as we had cast anchor, the captain gave
orders to lower and arm the ship's boat, which the sailors
manned, and, being provided with jars, went ashore in search
of water, of which we were in the greatest need. An Italian
domestic whom I had went with them, and in the early
morning, while searching for water by a bright moonlight
he discovered at the foot of a tree the largest and most
frightful tortoise one could imagine. At the first movement
it made, they thought it was a serpent or some other deadly
animal, and cried to each other to fly to the shore where
their boat was ; but afterwards, as there were six of them,
they felt ashamed of their fears, and, each taking an oar or a
stick, they returned to where they had first heard the sound,
and, as I have said, discovered a tortoise. Armed with their
oars, they approached it and tried to turn it on its back.

* The Canbbee Indians were the natural Inhabitants of the Antilles. They
flattened their heads, had small eyes, and wore their hair long, and generally
lived to a gi eat age. Their skin was of a deep, s\i arthy copper color They
painted it with rocou and at/, -which defended them from the sun, and drove
away the mosquitoes The women were of good figure, with round faces, long
black hair, and smiling countenances, and adorned their arms, neck, and
ankles with bracelets made, of colored Atones and shells They spoke three
sorts of languages, one common to them all, a second peculiar to the women, in
which they conversed among themselves ; and a third, used only in their councils
and assemblies, which was not understood by the women. They regarded them-
selves a superior race, and looked upon the negro imported fiom Africa by the
Spaniards with contempt. Dictionnaire langue des Caribe^par P.

196 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [^S^S-

The animal fled to\\ ards the sea, but they were at last suc-
cessful in attacking it by one leg, and \vere able to bring it
on to the ship. It required six men next day to cut it up.
The creature was a female and contained more than five
hundred eggs, each about the size of a hen's egg, and having
a yolk and white, but quite round in shape. The meat,
especially when roasted, looks and tastes like veal. These
tortoises live principally in the sea, although they go on
shore to sleep. When they are filled with eggs, as this one
was, they deposit them on the ground and cover them with
earth, where after a certain time the young hatch out, and
then go into the sea to live. On Tuesday morning the
admiral fitted out the boat, in which the sailors were to go
in search of wood and w r ater, and told me that if I wished, I
might accompany them, although he advised me to be very
careful. Anxious to go ashore, I did not stop to consider
all the danger to which I might be exposed. I called my
Italian servant and directed him to take a half dozen soiled
shirts and some other linen, and gave him a piece of soap
with which to wash them when we got on land, which he
did very well. I had fifty jars filled with excellent water, in
the forest, and then sent off the boat. While my servant
and four other men were busy washing the clothing, I
climbed upon some rocks on the seashore and amused
myself collecting shells, of which there were a great number,
when, on raising my eyes, I perceived three entirely naked
men descending a hill. As we were in an enemy's country,
I thought they must of course be Caribbees, and ran as fast

1565.] LOCISrA.YA AXD FLORIDA igj

as I could to join my companions. Each armed \vith a half
dozen stones, we then went to meet the men. When we came
within reach of their voices, we perceived that they were
some of our own people, which, considering the condition we
thought ourselves in, gave me the greatest pleasure. The
explanation of this adventure is this : only a certain number
of us were permitted by the admiral to go ashore, but the
poor wretches who remained behind, having also the greatest
desire to land, five soldiers agreed to swim after and join us.
The distance was greater than it appeared, however, and
the current being very rapid, two out of the five were
drowned. The other three crossed the mountain to where
I was, and as they wore no clothing, I thought it must be
an ambuscade of Canbbees. I had about a hundred Peru
jars filled with fresh water, and a large quantity of wood
gathered, and at about four o'clock we returned to the ship.
Just then, so fresh a breeze sprung up, that at daylight on
Wednesday, we found ourselves at the Island of Monserrat,
thirty-five leagues from there. It is said that from the
Canary Islands to Dominica there are about eight hundred
leagues sailing. Farther on are a great many other islands
which bear the names of different saints, Guadaloupe and
the Virgin Islands. This group appears to be about t\\o
hundred leagues in circumference, but the ground is very
stony and uninhabitable.

198

HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

[1565.

CHAPTER II.

N Thursday, August 9, about noon, we
came in sight of Porto Rico ; but at
nightfall, the pilot being fearful lest we
should run aground on the sand-banks
which surround the island and its harbor,
ordered all the sails to be brailed up ;
next morning, ho \vever, the breeze having stiffened a little,
we again set sail, and entered the port on Friday, St. Law-
rence's Day, at about three in the afternoon. On entering
the harbor, we discovered our first galley anchored there,
with the San Pelayo, which had become separated from us
in a storm.* Loud cries of joy resounded on all sides,
and we thanked the Lord that he had permitted us to find
each other again, but it would be impossible for me to tell
how it all happened. The captains and ensigns came imme-
diately to see us, and I regaled them with some confection-
ery and other things which I had brought with me. That
same day I went ashore with the admiral, and we visited

* Five of the scattered ships had now rejoined company, comprising, exclusive
of officers, about five hundred soldiers, two hundred sailors, and one hundred
colonists. (Sec Letter of Mentndez to the King, Sept n, 1565.)

LOUISIANA AJTD FLORIDA. 199

the general, who received us handsomely and \\ith great
demonstrations of affection. In the evening, seeing that I
did not present myself at supper because he had not invited
me, he sent for me. On the day following he gave me
quarters in a beautiful house, and cordially invited me to
dine with him, for which, of course, I returned my thanks.
We remained four days in port, during most of which time
it rained. On Wednesday, the I5th, about ten o'clock,
more than thirty men deserted and concealed themselves
around the harbor, among them, three of the seven priests
who accompanied the expedition. It was impossible to find
them, dead or alive, which distressed the general very much,
and me, too, as it added greatly to my labors. At this sea-
port I was offered a chaplaincy where I should have received
a peso for every mass said, and I should have had plenty to
do all the year round, but I feared to accept, lest I should
be talked about as the others were, and then it is not a city
where one is likely to receive promotion ; and besides I
wanted to see if by refusing a personal benefit for the love
of Jesus, He would not grant me a greater, since it is my
desire to serve our Lord and His blessed mother. The
rich persons in that country have made their money in
cattle, some of the wealthy land-owners having twenty to
thirty thousand cows, and others as many mares, each worth
only about forty pesos of base coin, or about one hundred
and twenty Spanish reals. The mares are not worth more,
because they do not know how to make use of them, unless
occasionally to draw loads or produce colts. As to the

200 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

cattle, only their hides are profitable, each hide being worth
eleven or twelve reals of that country. I mention these
things, because they wished to persuade me to remain in
that city. Seilor VALVERDE and I paid eight reals for an
azumbrc of wine, and even at that price it was not very
good. We replenished our little stock of provisions for the
voyage across, with such things as excellent salt meat,
oranges, lemons, sweet potatoes, sugar-canes, and a dozen
beefs tongues, and salt ribs. We took these precautions,
because on our outward trip we had learned by experience
what one is likely to suffer at sea.

It appears that the storm above described had injured
also our first galley, which, being near the shore when the
hurricane began, suffered so considerably that all the ship's
company made their last confessions, and expected every
minute to be their last. A severe gust of wind snapped off
their foremast, and blew it overboard with the sail and
rigging; and, as many of the ropes were fastened to the
sheets, it caused the ship to lean so, that twice they saw
their topmast dip under the waves. At the same time parts
of the top-sides were broken, as well as the mainmast. The
ship's company being unable any longer to control the sails,
and finding themselves likely to perish, gave themselves' up
to the will of the waves, until God, in His good mercy, per-
mitted them to reach this haven, where they repaired their
disasters as best they could.

In the port of St. John's of Porto Rico, the general pur-
chased twenty-four horses, and a ship to transport fifty men,

I565-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 2OI

whom the King had commanded to be taken from this
island. The very day we set sail, this ship sprung aleak,
and the danger of foundering was so imminent, that, in order
to save the men, it became necessary to lighten her by
throwing overboard a large quantity of merchandise. See-
ing that this produced but little effect, it became necessary
also to throw over the horses. Twenty-three \\ere either
lost in this way or died during the voyage, so that but one
arrived in Florida. The same day, the general sent a large
ship to St. Domingo, with orders to take on board the
four hundred men who, by his Majesty's orders, had
been assembled there, and have them join us with all
haste.

Before our fleet left Spain, three caravels had been sent
out by his Majesty's directions, as dispatch-boats, each at a
different time, to transmit to St. Domingo and to Havana
his Majesty's orders in regafd to what should be done on
our arrival. The second of these caravels took with her a
great many sealed dispatches concerning arrangements to be
made, and a great many valuable objects. When she
arrived off Mona Island, which forms already a part of St.
Domingo, she was attacked and compelled to surrender to a
French vessel one of those who were in our neighborhood.
The enemy boarded her, possessed themselves of all her
papers, read the plans for the conquest of Florida, took
off all the other things they saw fit to take/ and then
told the ship's company to go as fast as they could
to St. Domingo to notify their countrymen, but that

202 HIS70JRICAL COLLECTIONS OF

they hoped to be there as soon as the caravel, and with this
they left them.

On Friday, August 17, about four in the afternoon, we
arrived in sight of St. Domingo. Our general, trusting to
good luck and the mercy of God, instantly ordered the
admiral's ship to proceed northward, and pass through a
very, dangerous channel, which no navigator had as yet
explored. Although the admiral, as well as all of us, was
very much distressed by this order, he could not do other-
wise than obey the commanding general. At the time we
entered the strait, the waves were so high and the swell so
strong we thought we were about to perish, the danger
being caused by the surge which we had to brave, and yet
resist. The admiral told me to encourage the soldiers
with some good prayers and exhortations, and they did
become calm, although during the whole night we were
exposed to this danger.

Saturday, the iSth, daylight having reappeared, we took
courage ; but as we were sailing along, well out at sea, we
all at once saw breakers ahead. All the pilots hastened to
throw their sounding-lines, and find out if it would do to
proceed in the course our maneuver demanded. In some
places they found four fathoms of water, and in others less.
Two hours Kefore nightfall we discovered a low desert
island, named Aguana. Providence permitted us to come
near these banks and this island by daylight, so that we
could see and avoid their dangers, for, had we approached
them by night, we must surely have perished. In considera-

IS 6 5-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 2O3

tion of the great danger of our surroundings, and supposing
that none of our pilots were familiar with those parts, we
resolved to reef our sails, and not venture to proceed by
night, lest we should be wrecked. Sunday morning, the
i gth, at daybreak, the first ship which set sail was the
flag-ship, on which I was, since the pilot on this ship knew
his duty perfectly. The first galley joined us, and the
general was spoken to and told that we were pursuing a bad
course, but he only reiterated the orders to the captains and
pilots to continue in the route which was laid out for them.
All obeyed, although very unhappy about the frightful
danger to which the constantly-appearing breakers exposed
them. That day we perceived another low island, called
Capuana, uninhabited, like the other, and surrounded by
dangerous shoals and rocks. God permitted us to pass it
by day, and thus avoid its perils. At nightfall the flag-ship
and the first galley approached each other, and the general
had a long interview with the admiral and his pilot, who
explained to him the uncertainty of their being able to con-
tinue their voyage by this route. Persistently obstinate,
however, the general directed the captain and pilot to
navigate ahead of the first galley, to avoid the dangers of
shallow waters.

During the following night all the ships, of which all the
officers and crews were dissatisfied to be navigating
in unknown waters, profited by the darkness to brail up
their sails and fall behind the first galley, in order that they
might shield themselves from danger, by keeping in her wake.

2O4 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

Monday, the 2Oth, found us all at anchor at break of
day, for the galley, like the rest, fearful of the shallow
waters, had cast anchor at midnight, and when it be-
came quite light we beheld another low, flat island
right ahead of us. After passing this place, navigation
became easier, so far as shoals were concerned, for we met
them less frequently, which was somewhat encouraging.
Sunday morning, a boat from the galley came alongside of
us with men to visit some of my friends. We learned from
them that the (governor) general had made eight new cap-
tains, with their ensigns, sergeants, etc., besides the four who
had accompanied us from Spain. Each company was to be
composed of fifty men and a certain number of horsemen
to scout the country. Every one was well pleased to learn
this piece of news.

On the same day, about nine o'clock in the morning, the
admiral approached the galley to salute, according to
custom, when the general directed the captain to distribute
arms to all the soldiers and hold them in readiness for action.
Reflecting on the determination which he had shown in
regard to the navigation, I felt sure that the general knew
perfectly well what he was about, but did not wish to be
communicative. Your Lordship will remember that when
the fleet was in preparation in Spain, I went to see the
captain-general at the harbor of S/. Mary, and, as I told
you, he showed me a letter from his Royal Highness PHILIP
II., signed with his name. In this letter his Majesty told
him that, on May 20, some ships had left France carrying

I565-] LOUISIANA A.Y> FLORIDA. 20$

seven hundred men and two hundred women."* As I have
stated, we learned at St. Johns of Porto Rico that our dis-
patch-boat had been captured. This fact, joined to the
reflection that our fleet was much injured by the storm, and
that of the ten vessels which left Cadiz only four remained,
besides the , one bought at the last port to transport tlie
horses and troops all this made it evident to our captain-
general, a man of arms, that the French "\\ould likely be
waiting for him near the harbors, a little farther on ; that is,
off 3Ionte Christi^ Havana^ and the Cape of Las Canas, which
lie on the same side, and precisely on our route to Florida.
This was all the more to be expected since the French had
come in possession of our plan to unite our forces at Ha-
vana. Not wishing, however, to encounter the French,
having now lost our ships, and havipg but feeble means of
defense, the general decided to take a northerly course, and
pursue a new route, through the Bahama Channel^ leaving
the enemy to the windward. When I suggested this route
to the admiral and the pilot, they said it was important 'and
necessary to abandon the usual route, by way of Havana.
Following this dangerous navigation, the Lord permitted
the admiral to arrive safely in port on Sunday, the 2Oth of
August. We saw two islands, called the Bahama Islands.
The shoals which lie between them ar*e so extensive that the

* This is a mistake , there were but few families who accompanied this expe-
dition of RIBAULT to Flonda, of which MENEXDEZ seemed to be well informed
by the King of Spain before he sailed with orders from the King to hang and
behead all Lutherans (Huguenots) whom he should find in Flonda.

206 HISTORICAL COLLECTION'S OF

billows are felt far out at sea. The general gave orders to
take soundings. The ship purchased at Porto Rico got
aground that day in two and a half fathoms of water. At
first, we feared she might stay there ; but she soon got off
and came to us. Our galley, one of the best ships afloat,
found herself all day in the same position, when suddenly
her keel struck three times violently against the bottom.
The sailors gave themselves up for lost, and the water com-
menced to pour into her hold. But as we had a mission to
fulfill for Jesus Christ and His blessed mother, two heavy
waves, which struck her abaft, set her afloat again, and soon
after we found her in deep water, and at midnight we
entered the Bahama Channel.

LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA

CHAPTER III.

i Saturday, the 25th, the captain-general
(MENENDEZ) came to visit our vessel
and get the ordnance for disembark-
ment at Florida. This ordnance con-
sisted of two rampart pieces, of two
sorts of culverins, of very small caliber,

powder and balls ; and he also took two soldiers to take care
of the pieces. Having armed his vessel, he stopped and made
us an address, in which he instructed us what we had to do
on arrival at the place where the French were anchored. I
will not dwell on this subject, on which there was a good
deal said for and against, although the opinion of the gen-
eral finally prevailed. There were two thousand (hundred)
Frenchmen in the seaport into which we were to force an
entrance. I made some opposition to the plans, and begged
the general to consider that he had the care of a thousand
souls, for which he must give a good account. Then fol-
lowed a fine address, which I shall not repeat here, as it
would make my report too long. Please the Lord and the

Blessed Virgin, I will, however, report it on my return.
15

208 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF C I 5 6 S-

On Monday, August 27, while we were near the entrance
to the Bahama Channel^ God showed to us a miracle from
heaven. About nine o'clock in the evening, a comet
appeared, which showed itself directly above us, a little
eastward, giving so much light that it might have been taken
for the sun. It went towards the west that is, towards
Florida, and its brightness lasted long enough to repeat two
Credos. According to the sailors, this was a good omen.

On Tuesda> T , the 2Sth, we had a calm more dead than
anything we had yet experienced while at sea. " Our vessel
was about one and a half leagues from the first galley and
the other vessels. We were all tired, and especially I, from
praying to God to give us weather which should put an end
to all trials and disappointments. About two o'clock He had
pity on us, and sent so good a wind, that we came under full
sail to rejoin the galley. One thing happened which I regard
as miraculous. While we were becalmed, and after we had
joined the other vessels, none of the pilots knew where we
were; some pretending we were as much as a hundred
leagues from Florida. However, thanks to God and the
prayers of the Blessed Virgin, we soon had the pleasure of
seeing land. We steered in that direction, anchored near a
point of land, and found ourselves actually in Florida,* and
not very far distant from the enemy, which was for us an

* The Spamsh fleet came in sight of land upon the same day, August 28
(called, m the calendar of the Roman Catholic Church, St. Augustine), that the
French fleet, under RIBAULT, cast anchor at the mouth of the May, now called
St. John's river, being within fifty miles of each other.

I5 6 5-] LOUISIANA AXD FLOXIDA. 2Cg

occasion of great joy. That very evening our general
assembled the pilots on the galley to discuss what was to be
done. Next day, the 2gth, at daylight, the galley and all
the other ships weighed anchor, and coasted along in search
of the enemy or a harbor favorable for disembarking.

On Monday, the 3Oth of August, we were assailed by bad
weather, which obliged us to anchor. For four days con-
trary winds continued to blow, or else it was so calm we
could not move ; during all of which time we remained at
anchor, about a league and a half from the shore. The
captain-general, seeing that neither the pilots nor the two
Frenchmen, whom we had taken prisoners, and who belonged
to the French colony, could give us any information in
regard to the port ; and the coast being so flat that we could
only recognize a few objects, the general, under these cir-
cumstances, decided to send ashore fifty arquebusiers, with
some captains. They built fires in order to excite the
curiosity of the Indians, and attract them ; but they were
so stupid that they paid no attention to us, and none came
to see us. Our people then decided to penetrate the
interior; and after having gone four leagues, they arrived at
a village of Indians, who kindly received them, gave them
food in abundance, embraced them, and then asked them for
some of their things, and the soldiers were generous enough
to make them a number of presents. In return, the natives
gave them two pieces of gold, of low standard, but it showed
that they had some, and were in the habit of giving it in
exchange. The Frenchmen whom we had with us told us

210 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

they had been in communication with them for a long time.
The Indians wanted the soldiers to pass the night with them,
in order that they might feast them ; but the latter declined
their offers, being anxious to report the good news to our
captain-general. As soon as he had learned the news, he
resolved to disembark on Saturday morning, September ist,
and go among these Indians. He took with him a quantity
of linen, knives, mirrors, and other little things of that sort,
to gain their good will, and get some information as to
where the French were. One of the Frenchmen of whom I
have spoken understood their language. They told us we
had left the French about five leagues behind us ; precisely
at the same spot to which God had conducted us when we
arrived in sight of land ; but we could not then find them,
because we had not sent any one ashore.

On Tuesday, the 4th, the fleet left the place of which I
have been speaking, and we took a northerly course, keep-
ing all the time close to the coast. On Wednesday, the 5th,
two hours before sunset, we saw four French ships at the
mouth of a river.* When we were two leagues from them,
the first galley joined the rest of the fleet, which was com-
posed of four other vessels. The general concerted a plan
with the captains and pilots, and ordered the flag-ship, the

* The French expedition commanded by REBAULT, consisting of seven sail and
five hundred men and some families of artisans, arrived on the coast of Florida
and entered the river May (St. Jokris] on the SQth August, 1565, four of which
vessels were lying outside of the bar, disembarking the emigrants, when MENEN-
pEZ arrived.

I S 6 5-] LOUISIANA A.VJ} FLORIDA. 2 1 1

San Pelayo, and a chaloupe to attack the French flag-ship,
the Trinity, while the first galley and another chaloupe
would attack the French galley, both of which vessels \\ere
very large and powerful. All the ships of our fleet put
themselves in good position ; the troops were in the best of
spirits, and full of confidence in the great talents of the
captain-general. They followed the galley ; but as our
general is a very clever and artful officer, he did not fire,
nor seek to make any attack on the enemy. He went
straight to the French galley, and cast anchor about eight
paces from her. The other vessels went to the windward,
and very near the enemy. During the maneuvers, which
lasted until about two hours after sunset, not a word was
said on either side. Never in my life have I known such
stillness. Our general inquired of the French galley, which
was the vessel nearest his, %i Whence does this fleet come ? "
They answered, " From France." kt What are you doing
here ? " said the Adelantado. " This is the territory of
King PHILIP II. I order you to leave directly; for I
neither know who you are, nor what you want here." The
French commander then replied, * I am bringing soldiers
and supplies to the fort of the King of France." He then
asked the name of the general of our fleet, and was told,
" PEDRO MENENDEZ DE AVILES, Captain-General of the
King of SpE^in, who have come to hang all Lutherans I find
here."* Our general then asked him the name of his com-

* The following is the version of MENEN'DEZ in a MS. letter written to the
King of Spain, Sept. n, 1565 . "I answered them, says MEXENDEZ, who was

212 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

mander, and he replied, " Lord GASTO." While this parley-
ing was going on, a long-boat was sent from the galley to
the flag-ship. The person charged with this errand managed
to do it so secretly, that we could not hear what was said ;
but we understood the reply of the French to be : "I am
the admiral ; " which made us think he wished to surrender,
as they were in so small a force. Scarcely had the French
made this reply, when they slipped their cables, spread their
sails, and passed through our midst. Our admiral, seeing
this, followed the French commander,* and called upon him
to lower his sails, in the name of King PHILIP ; to which he
received an impertinent answer. Immediately our admiral
gave an order to discharge a small culverm, the ball from
which struck the vessel amidships, and I thought she was
going to founder. We gave chase, and, some time after, he
again called on them to lower their sails. " I would sooner
die first than surrender ! ' 3 replied the French commander.
The order was given to fire a second shot, which carried off
five or six men ; but as these miserable devils are very good
sailors, they maneuvered so well that we could not take one
of them ; and, notwithstanding all the guns we fired at them,
we did not sink one of their ships. We only got possession

going by his Majesty's order to the coast of Florida to bum and destroy the
Lutheran French who should be found there, and that in tlie morning I would
board their ships to find out \v r hether they belonged to that people, because, in
case they did, I could not do otherwise than execute upon them that justice which
your Majesty had ordered/* Parkman's Pioneers of France z the New World.

* RIBAULT had at this time gone to pay a visit to LAUDONNIERE, at Fort
Otrolin t on the river Afay (St John's)

1565.] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA, 21$

of one of their large boats, which was of great service to
us afterwards. During the whole night, our flag-ship ithe
(San Pelayo) and the galley chased the French flag-ship
(Trinity) and galley.

Wednesday morning, September 5th, at sunrise, so great
a storm arose that we feared we should be shipwrecked ;
and as our vessels were so small, we did not dare to remain
on the open sea, and regained the shore ; that is, three of
our vessels anchored at about a league and a half from it.
We had double moorings, but the wind was so strong that
one of them broke loose. We prayed the Lord to spare the
others, for we could not have prevented them from being
driven on to the coast, and lost. As our galley was a large
vessel, and busy following up the enemy, she could not come
to our assistance ; so we felt ourselves in danger of being
attacked. The same evening, about sunset, we perceived a
sail afar off, which we supposed was one of our galleys, and
which was a great subject of rejoicing; but as the ship
approached, we discovered it was the French flag-ship
(Trinity),* which we had fired at the night before. At
first, we thought she was going to attack us ; but she did
not dare to do it, and anchored between us and the shore,
about a league from us. That night the pilots of our other
ships came on board, to consult with the Admiral as to what

* Distrusting the intentions of the Spaniards, one of the French fleet put
to sea, and sailed to the souths ard, and came to anchor opposite the river Seley*
called by the French "Dolphin," where they saw the Spaniards land their
troops and provisions.

214 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

was to be done. The next morning, being fully persuaded
that the storm had made a wreck of our galley, or that, at
least, she had been driven a hundred leagues out to sea, we
decided that so soon as daylight came we would weigh
anchor, and withdraw in good order, to a river (Scloy*} which
was below the French colony, and there disembark, and
construct a fort, which we would defend until assistance
came to us.

* This was the fiist landing made by LAUDONNIERE, in 1564, which he named
ihe nvei "Dolphin " The two arms of the nvei miming to the north and south
are the N"orth River and the 3fatanzas The old to\\nof St Augustine was
built here , also the first Roman Catholic chinch and monasteiy on the Atlantic
coast of Noith America. The bigoted PHILIP II was proclaimed monarch of
all Xorth Ameiica. It is by more than forty years the oldest city in the United
States the first town in this country that sprung from the bigotry of the
Spanish king. "Its origin," says BANCROFT, "should he caiefully remembered,
for it is a fixed point from which to measure the liberal influence of time, the
progress of modern civilization, the victories of the Amencan mind in its con-
tests for the inteiests of humanity " The French government heaid of the
massacre of the French colony with apathy, which, If it had been piotected,
would have given to France a flourishing empire in the South before England
had planted a single spot on the new continent.

I 5 6 5 .]

LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA

215

CHAPTER IV.

N Thursday, just as day appeared, we
sailed towards the vessel at anchor,
passed very close to her, and would cer-
tainly have captured her, when we saw
another vessel appear on the open sea,
which we thought was one of ours. At

the same moment, however, we thought we recognized the
French admiral's ship. We perceived the ship on the open
sea ; it was the French galley of which we had been in pursuit.
Finding ourselves between these two vessels, we decided to
direct our course towards the galley, for the sake of deceiv-
ing them and preventing them from attacking us, so as not
to give them any time to wait. This bold maneuver having
succeeded, we sought the river Seloy and port, of which I
have spoken, where we had the good fortune to find our gal-
ley, and another vessel which had planned the same thing
we had. Two companies of infantry now disembarked ; that
of Captain ANDRES SOYEZ PATINO, and that of Captain
JUAN DE SAN VINCENTE, who is a very distinguished gen-
tleman. They were well received by the Indians, who gave

2l6 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

them a large house belonging to a chief, and situated near
the shore of the river. Immediately Captain PATINO and
Captain SAN VJXCENTE, both men of talent and energy,
ordered an Intrenchment to be built around this house, with
a slope of earth and fascines, these being the only means of
defense possible in that country, where stones are nowhere

NARRATIVE

OF

Don SOLIS DE LAS MKRAS, biother-m-law of Don PEDRO MENENDEZ DE
AVILES, Adelantado of Floiida, translated from BARCIA, " Ensayo chronolo-
gico para la Historic, General de la Florida " Madiid, 1723

"|N his arrival in Florida, Don PEDRO MENENDEZ DE AVILES, Ade-
lantado of Florida, devoted himself to the fortifying of St. Augus-
tine \v ith a fort, as best he could to defend himself from an attack
of the French fleet, commanded by Captain RIBAULT, Viceroy of
the King of France, should an attempt be made to land a colony in Florida.
A few days after the Adelantado arrived, some Indians came to him at St.
Augustine, to inform him that there were a great many Christians four leagues
distart, who could not pass the river or arm of the sea (supposed by iccent
surveys to be Mafansas inlet), whereupon he took with him forty men in boats,
to reconnoiter the country, and arrived on the bank of the river after midnight,
where he halted until morning ; and after hiding his soldiers among the bushes
and trees, he surveyed the country from the top of a tree, and saw many people
on the opposite side of the nver with banners flying , and, thinking how he
should prevent them from crossing over, he drew so near to them that he could
count them Presently he saw a Frenchman swimming over the nver, and, as
he approached the Adelantado, he called out that the people on the other side
-were Frenchmen who had been shipwrecked in a hurricane. The Adelantado
asked him how many were on the opposite side ? He replied, About two
hundred followers of Captain RIBAULT, Viceroy and Captain-General of Florida
for the King of France (Charles IX ).

He again asked him, are they Roman Catholics or Lutherans ? He replied,

I5 6 5-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA. 21"

to be found. Up to to-day we have disembarked ttventy-
four pieces of bronze guns of different calibers, of which the
least weighed fifteen hundredweight. Our fort is at a dis-
tance of about fifteen leagues from that of the enemy (Fort
Carolin\ The energy and talents of those tivo brave captains,
joined to the efforts of their brave soldiers, who had no tools

" They are all Lutherans," of which the Adelantado had been previously informed
by the women and children whom he had recently captured at Fort Carotin
(afterwaids called by MEXENDEZ Fort Jfaffee, because it was captured on St
Matthew's Day, September 15, 1665), together with six cases of Lutheian books,
which were afterwards burned. He again asked him what he came across the
river for. He said Captain RIBAULT sent him to find out who weie the people
he saw. The Adelantado then inquired if he -wished to return to his people
He answered, yes. You may then go back and report to Captain RIBAULT that
" I am Captain-General for PHILIP II , King of Spain, and came to find out what
your people are doing here." The Frenchman went back the same day with
the message to Captain RIBAULT, ^ho sent him back, asking an interview for
himself and four officers, and requesting that a boat might be sent for them,
which the Adelantado gianted, and guaranteed on his honor that they should
not be molested going or coming, and at the same time ordered a boat to be
sent for them. On the boat reluming, they were cordially recerved by the
Adelantado and his men, who were afterwards ordered to retiie at some
distance to the rear, and scatter themselves among the bushes, so as not to be
seen by the French. One of these Frenchmen said that he was a captain, and
that four galleons had been lost in the recent storm, together with several
smaller vessels belonging to the King of France ; and some of the people who
had escaped wished to be assisted with boats, to take them to a fort, tw enty
leagues distant. (This was Fort Carotin, which the Adelantado had captured
some days before from the French.) The Adelantado then asked him. Are they
Catholics or Lutherans' He replied, We are all Lutherans. He then said .
Gentlemen, your fort has been taken, and all the people in it put to death
except the women, and children under fifteen years of age ; and if you wish to
be certain of it, there aie some soldiers here who can tell you all about the
capture. I have two French soldiers, Roman Catholics, who were captured at the
fort ; and will send for them if you will take a seat here, and yon can question

2 1 8 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ * 5 6 5

with which to work the earth, accomplished the construction
of this fortress of defense ; and when the general disem-
barked \ he was quite surprised with what had been done.

On Saturday, the 8th, the general landed with many ban-
ners spread, to the sound of trumpets and salutes of artil-
lery. As I had gone ashore the evening before, I took a
cross and went to meet him, singing the hymn 7> Deum

them. They replied, We are satisfied with your statement, and begged as a
favor that he would give them some ships to take them back to Fiance The
Adelantado said that he had no ships to spaie, but he would do so willingly,
and if he had some to spaie, if they were Catholics , that he had recently sent
one to Foit San JMatteo (Fort Carolm), to bung the aitilleiy , one to St.
Domingo, with the T& omen and children he had captured , and one with
dibpatches to Spam. The Frenchmen then begged the Adelantado to let his
people remain with him until he could furnish them with ships and piovisions
to take them back to France, as there was then no war between the two
nations, and the Kings of France and Spam were fuends and biotheis. The
Adelantado replied that this was true, but that, as they \iere Lutheians, he
looked upon them as enemies, and would wage war again&t them with fiie and
sword, whether on sea or land, for the King ; " as I have come here to establish
the Holy Roman Catholic faith in Florida. But if you will sunender yourselves
and arms, and trust to my mercy, you may do so, and I will act towards you as
God may prompt me ; otherwise, do as you please, for I will not make any truces
or treaties with you."

One of the Frenchmen then said he would first go back to consult with his
people what was best to be done, and that within two hours he would return
with an answer. The Adelantado then said you can do as you please, and I will
remain here until your return. In two hours he returned, and said there were
many noblemen among them, who would give him nfty thousand ducats, if he
would spare their lives* He replied, I am a poor man, but I would not be
guilty of such a weakness, nor do I wish to be thought avaricious, and when.
I wish to be liberal and merciful, it must be without reward ; nor will I
offer any other terms. Thereupon the Frenchman returned to his people ; and
in less than an hour after he came back, and said to the Adelantado " that all
the Frenchmen would trust to his mercy and surrender on his terms," and

LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA 2ig

laudamus. The general marched up to the cross, followed
by all who accompanied him, and there they all kneeled and
embraced the cross. A large number of Indians watched
these proceedings and imitated all they saw done. The
same day the general took formal possession of the country in
the name of his Majesty, and all the captains took the oath of
allegiance to him^ as their general and governor of the country.

biought back in his boat all their flags, arquebuses, pistols, swords, bucklers,
helmets, and breast-plates.

The Adelantado then ordered twenty soldiers into the boats, to bring o\er
the n\er ten at a time, and not to treat them ill , he then -withdrew from the
banks of the river to some bushes behind the sand-hills, \\heie he could not be
seen from the boat that was to bring them over, and when they landed, he said
to the French captain and other Frenchmen with him, " Gentlemen, I ha\e but
few men, and they are not well known to me, and as you are many, and are at
liberty, it will be easy for you to revenge yourself upon me foi the people I
have put to death, when we took your fort , it is therefore necessary that you
should march -with your hands tied behind your backs four leagues, \vheie I
have my camp , to which they consented, and as they crossed over the Spaniards
tied their hands behind their backs, and marched them off in squads of ten
until they amounted to two hundred and eight Frenchmen ; v hen the Adelan-
tado asked if there were any Roman Catholics among them. Eight of them said
they were Roman Catholics, and he had them put into a boat and sent to St
Azigitsttne, but the remainder, -who ^ere Lutherans, he ordered, after giving
them something to eat, to be marched to St. Augustine to be put to death. A
few days after the Adelantado returned to St. Attgxtstine, the same Indians
came to inform him that more Christians had arrived on the same side of the
river where they found the others. He then began to surmise that they must
be Captain RlBArLT's party, whom they called the French King's Viceroy of
Florida; and MENENDEZ set out with one hundred and fifty soldiers well
equipped, and halted at the same place as before. He scattered his soldiers
along the nver bank, and behind the sand-hills and bushes ; and, as day dawned
he saw a crowd of men with a lighter for the purpose of eariying over the men
to the other side of the nver. But on seeing the Spaniards, they sounded their
drams and trumpets, and unfurled the Royal Standard, together with two cam-

22O HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

When this ceremony was ended, he offered to do everything
in his power for them, especially for Captain FATING, who
during the whole voyage had ardently served the cause of
God and of the King ; and, I think, will be rewarded for his
assiduity and talents in constructing a fort in which to
defend ourselves until the arrival of help from St. Domingo

paign flags, and, upon playing their fifes and drums, showed battle to the Span-
iards The Adelantado ordered his men to sit down, and take then bieakfast,
whilst he \\alked up and down the shore -with his admiial and two other cap-
tains, taking no notice of the French. Aftei wards the Fiench hoisted a white
flag, to which the Adelantado replied, and sounded his bugle, which he always
earned with him, and, taking a white handkerchief, he waved it in sign of peace.
A Frenchman then entered a canoe and called out to the Spaniaids to cross
over, but he was ansveied that he must come where the Adelantado was. He
replied that it was difficult to cross over the river, as the cuirent was strong. A
French sailor then swam across the river, and spoke to the Adelantado, who
ordered him back to inform Captain RIBAULT that, if he wished anything, he
must write to him The sailor retuined, and shortly after bi ought back with
him an officer with a message from Captain RIBAULT, Viceroy of the King of
France, that his fleet had been \\recked in a storm at sea, and that he had with
him about three hundred and fifty men, who were maiching to the French foit
(CarohnJ) about twenty leagues distant, with a request to furnish him with two
boats to cross the river. The Adelantado sent him back a message that he
had captured the French forts on the liver May, and put all the garuson to
death The officer, making no demonstration of sonow at what he said, asked
the privilege of sending back one of the gentlemen with him to Captain RIBAULT,
so as to treat for a surrender with a guarantee of safe return. The French gen-
tleman departed immediately with this message, and retuined within an hour
with the message from Captain RIBAULT to the Adelantado, accepting his guar-
antee of safety. He then crossed over with eight gentlemen, whom the. Ade-
lantado received cordially, for they were all distinguished persons, and he
offered them refreshments \vith wine and preserves. Captain RIBAULT said that
he was grateful for so kind a reception, but their hearts were so sorrowful on
account of hearing of the death of their companions, that they could not par-
take of their hospitality, except to take some wme and preserves. He then said

LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 221

and Havana. The French number about as many as we
do, and perhaps more. My advice to the general was not to
attack the enemy, but to let the troops rest all winter and
wait for the assistance daily expected; and then we may
hope to make a successful attack.

God and the holy Virgin have performed another great

to the Adelantado that he might some day find himself in the same situation
that he was, and hoped that he w ould treat with him in a friendly and magnani-
mous spint, and furnish him with ships and pio\isions to return to France, and
urged upon the Adelantado the reasonableness of this request. He replied that
he would not change his mind. Captain RlBAL'LT then passed to the other side
of the liver to consult with his people, among whom were many noblemen.
After several hours elapsed, he returned, and said to the Adelantado his people
weie of different opinions about the terms of surrender, but that one-half would
surrender, on the terms of his being merciful, and pay a ransom of one hundred
thousand ducats , and the other half would pay still more. The Adelantado
replied that, as much as it grieved him that such a laige ransom was offered,
\vhich he stood in need of to effect a settlement in Florida, and establish the
Holy Catholic religion theie, which had been intrusted to him b> the King of
Spain, still he mu&t icfuse their ofter. Captain RlBVl'LT then, as night \i as
advancing, returned once more to consult with his people, and in the moining he
leturned among the Spamaids, and delivered to the Adelantado two Royal Stand-
ards of the King of France, and the banneis of the companies ; als-o a isword,
dagger, pistol, gilt helmet, and a seal which Admiral COLIGNY, of France, had
given him to seal dispatches, and writs which might be issued. At the same
time, he said that, out of three hundred and fifty persons, one hundred and fifty
only were willing to surrender on the terms of being mercifully treated, and
the remainder departed that night in another direction Thereupon, the Ade-
lantado ordered Captain DIEGO FLORES DE VALDEZ, Admiral of the fleet, to
bring them over in boats, ten at a time, and distribute them among the bushes
behind the sand-hills, with their hands tied behind their backs, and afterwards
marched them four leagues by land at night, taking with them Captain RlBAULT
and his officers, with their hands tied behind their backs. Before they set out
for St. Augustine, the Adelantado asked Captain RIBAULT if they were Luther-
ans or Roman Catholics, and he replied they were Lutherans, and commenced

222 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

miracle in our favor. The day after our general came into
the fort, he told us he was very much annoyed that his gal-
ley and another vessel were anchored about a league out at
sea, and were not able to enter the harbor on account of the
sandbanks. He felt uneasy, and feared the French would
capture or ill-treat them. As soon as this idea took posses-

to sing a psalm, " Domine memento met" and, after they finished it, he remarked
that " they \veie made of eaith, and to eaith they must return, and that twenty
years, mo le 01 less, \\ere of no consequence*' Then the Adelantado oideied
all of them to be put to death, except the fifers, drummeis, trumpeters, and
four otheis ^ho were Catholics, making in all sixteen persons , and the same
night the Adelantado leturned to St Augustine^ where some taunted him
with being cruel, and others that he had done right, as they would have died
from starvation by leason of the scarcity of provisions at thefoit , 01 the Fiench,
being more numerous, would have put the Spaniards to death for their cruelty.

[Thus ended the efforts of the Fiench to establish a colony on the southern
coast of North Ameuca. The lily of France was trampled m the dust, and the
flag of Spain waved over SL Atigustine, San Mateo> and San Lucia. The de-
struction of the Huguenots excited the utmost gratification at the Court of Spain,
and the conduct of MENENDEZ \\as approved and commended by the bigoted
PHILIP II., and drew foith a letter of gratulation from Pope Pius V]

TRANSLATION OF A LETTER

FROM

POPE PIUS V. TO ADELANTADO PEDRO MENENDEZ DE AVILES.

"O our beloved son and nobleman, PEDRO MENENDEZ DE AVILES,
Viceroy m the Province of Florida, in the Indies Beloved son
and nobleman, grace and benediction of our Lord be with you.
Amen.

" We greatly rejoice that our much-beloved, dear son in Christ, PHILIP II ,
the Most Catholic King, had appointed and honored you by the government of

LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA. 223

sion of him, he left with about fifty men, to go on board
another galley. He gave the order for three of the ship's
boats, which were anchored in the river, to go and get the
food and troops from on board the galley. The next day
our ship went to sea loaded with provisions, and one hun-
dred men besides, and, when about half a league from the
bar, it became so becalmed that it could not advance at all :

^Florida, making you Adelantado of the countiy ; for we had received such
accounts of 3 our person, and the excellencies of your viitues, your worth, and
dignity \vere so satisfactorily spoken of, that \\e belie\ed, without doubt, that
you would not only fulfill faithfully, and \\ith care and diligence, the orders and
instructions which had been delivered to }ou by so Catholic a King, but we
also fully tiusted that you would, with discretion, do all that was requisite, and
see earned foiwaid the extension of our Holy Catholic faith, and the gaming
of souls foi God. I w ould that you should well understand that the Indians
shall be go\erned in good faith and prudently, that those who may be weak m
the faith, being newly conveited, be strengthened and confirmed, and the idol-
aters may be converted and leceive the faith of Christ , that the first may praise
God, knowing the benefits of His dmne mercy, and the others, who are \et
infidels, by the example and imitation of those who are already freed from
blindness, may be led to the knowledge of the faUh.

" But theie is one thing more important foi the conversion of the Indian
idolaters which is. to endeavor, by every means, that they shall not be scandalized
by the vices and bad habits of those who pass fi om our western shores to those
parts. This is the key of this holy enterprise, in -which are included all things
lequisite Well understand, most noble man, that I declare to you that a great
opportunity is offered to you in the carrying-out and management of these mat-
ters, which shall redound, on the one hand, to the service of God, and, on the
other, to the increase of the dignity of your King, esteemed of men as well as
loved and rewarded by God

" Wherefore, we give you. our paternal and Apostolical benediction We seek
and charge you to give entire faith to our brother, the Archbishop of JPor>n,
who, in our name, wilt signify our wishes in more ample words.

" Given in JRome, at St Peter's, with the nng of the Fisherman, the first of
August, 1569, the third year of our Pontificate **

224 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

so they cast anchor, and passed the night in that place. The
next morning, as the tide rose, they weighed anchor, and, as
daylight advanced, they found themselves astern of two
French vessels that had been watching them. The enemy
prepared immediately to attack us, but when our people
recognized the French, they addressed a prayer to Our Lady
of Utrera, begging for her to send a little wind, for the
French were already quite close upon us. One would
have said that the spirit of Our Lady immediately
descended upon our ship, for the wind freshened,
blowing directly towards the channel, so that our
galley could take refuge. The French soon followed us,
but as the water is very shallow on the bar, their large
ships could not pass over, and our people and provisions
got safely into port. Under these circumstances, God
granted us two great favors. The first was that on the
same evening, after we had landed our troops and provisions,
the two vessels sailed away at midnight without being seen
by the enemy. One went to Spain, and the other to
Havana, so that neither was captured. The second favor,
and that by which God rendered us a still greater service,
happened the next day. A great hurricane came up, and
was so severe that, I think, almost all of the French vessels
must have been lost, for they were assailed on the most
dangerous part of the coast. Our general was very bold in
all military matters, and a great enemy of the French. He
immediately assembled his captains and planned an expe-
dition to attack the French settlement and fort on the

1565.] LOriSfAS-A A1~D FLORIDA. 22$

river with five hundred men, and, in spite of the opinion of
a majority of them, and of my judgment and of another
priest, he ordered his plan to be carried out. Accord-
ingly, on Monday, September 17, he set out with five hun-
dred men, well provided with fire-arms and pikes, each soldier
carrying with him a sack of bread and supply of wine for the
journey. They also took with them two Indian chiefs, \\ho
were the implacable enemies of the French, to serve as
guides.

In a letter received from the captain-general to-day, the
fgth, he wrote me " that the very shallowest of the streams
which they forded reached up to the knees; that he has
passed through very dense forests, and to-morrow, the 2Oth
(Thursday), he hoped to attack the enemy's fort at day-
break." His courage and great zeal make me hope that he
will succeed ; but he ought to have been a little less eager
to carry out his projects, which would really have more
advanced the service of his Majesty. Since the departure

of the troops, we have suffered the worst weather and the

*
most horrible tempests that I ever saw. May his Divine

Majesty be with and protect us, for Heaven knows we have
need of it. Yesterday evening, Wednesday, the igth, we
sent from the fort twenty men laden with provisions
bread, wine, and cheese but the rain has fallen in such
abundance that I am not sure they have been able to join
the general and his army. I hope God, however, will do all
he can for us, which will enable us to propagate his religion,
and destroy the heretics.

226

HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

[I S 6 5 .

CHAPTER V.

HIS morning, Saturday, the 22d, just after
I had finished the mass of Our Lady,
the admiral, at our request, sent some
soldiers to fish, that we priests might
have something to eat, it 'being a fast-
day. Just as they had arrived at the
place for fishing, and were going to throw out their nets,
they perceived a man advancing towards them. He un-
furled a white flag, which is a sign of peace, when our
men surrounded and captured him. He proved to be a
Frenchman, one of our enemies, so they made him a pris-
oner, and brought him to our admiral. The man, thinking
we were going to hang him, shed tears and appeared to be in
great distress. I asked him if he were a Catholic, and he
told me he was, and recited some prayers ; so I consoled
him, and told him not to fear anything, but to answer all
questions put to him with frankness, which he promised me
to do. He said there were about seven hundred men in the
fort (Carotin, on the river May), of which one-third were
Lutherans, and two priests, who preached the Lutheran doc-

1565.] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA. 22 J

trines, and in camp, eight or ten Spaniards , three of whom
were found among the Indians, quite naked, and painted like
the natives, who had been wrecked on the coast, and as
no vessel had come into the country for a long time,
they had remained with the Indians, some of whom had
joined the French, whose fleet had arrived twenty days
before.

On Monday, September 24th, about nine o'clock in the
morning, the admiral came into port with his frigate, and as
soon as I recognized him, I had the bells rung and great
rejoicings made in the camp.

An hour after he arrived, we saw a man approach-
ing with loud cries. I was the first to run to him and
get the news. He embraced me with transport, crying:
u Victory! victory! the French fort \Carolm\ is ours!" I
promised him the gift due to the bearer of good news, and
have given him the best I was able to give. I have related
how our brave general was determined, in spite of the
opinions of many of his officers, to attack the French by land
with five hundred men ; but as the enterprise we are engaged
in is for the cause of Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother,
the Holy Spirit has enlightened the understanding of our
chief, so that everything has turned to our advantage, and
resulted in a great victory. He has shown an ability and an
energy unequaled by any prince in the world. He has been
willing to sacrifice himself, and has been sustained by his
captains and his soldiers, whom he has encouraged by his
valor and his words more than by any distribution of rewards

228 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ I S 6 5-

or other inducements, so that every soldier has fought like a
Roman.

I have previously stated that our brave captain-general
set out on the i/th of September with five hundred arque-
busiers and pikemen, under the guidance of two Indian
chiefs, who showed them the route to the enemy's fort.
They marched the whole distance until Tuesday evening,
the iSth of September, 1565, when they arrived within a
quarter of a league of the 'enemy's fort (Caroliti), where they
remained all night up to their waists in water. When
daylight came, Captains LOPEZ, PATINO, and MARTIN
OCHOA had already been to examine the fort, but when they
went to attack the fort a greater part of the soldiers were so
confused they scarcely knew what they were about.

On Thursday morning, our good captain-general, accom-
panied by his son-in-law, Don PEDRO DE VALDES and
Captain PATINO, went to inspect the fort. He showed so
much vivacity that he did not seem to have suffered by any
of the hardships to which he had been exposed, and seeing
him march off so brisk, the others took courage, and with-
out exception followed his example. It appears the
enemy did not perceive their approach until the very mo-
ment of the attack, as it was very early in the morning and
had rained in torrents. The greater part of the soldiers of
the fort were still in bed. Some arose in their shirts, and
others, quite naked, begged for quarters; but, in spite of that,
more than one hundred and forty were killed. A great
Lutheran cosmographer and magician was found among the

1565.] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 229

dead. The rest, numbering about three hundred, scaled the
walls, and either took refuge in the forest or on their ships
floating in the river, laden with treasures ; so that in an
hour's time the fort was in our possession, without our
having lost a single man, or even had one wounded. There
\\ ere six vessels on the river at the time. They took one
brig, and an unfinished galley and another vessel, which
had been just discharged of a load of rich merchandise,
and sunk. These vessels were placed at the entrance
to the bar to blockade the harbor as they expected
we would come by sea. Another, laden with wine and
merchandise, was near the port. She refused to surrender,
and spread her sails, when they fired on her from the fort,
and sunk her in a spot where neither the vessel nor cargo
will be lost. The taking of this fort* gained us many valu-

* MENENBEZ now changed the name of Fort Carohn to San Jfatw, in honor
of the apostle whose festival occurred on the day subsequent to its capture. He
also changed the name of the nver J/tf>' to San 3fateo He garrisoned the fort
with three hundred men, and left it under the command of Don GONZ\LES DE
VILLARLAL. Subsequently he undertook a voyage to the north, along the coast
of Georgia and South Carolina, and is supposed to have sailed as far north as
Chesapeake Bay. The points especially mentioned by him are Guale, Azvttos,
and^ St. ffeknaj where he built a fort, planted a cross, and took possession of the
country m the name of his sovereign, and afterwards set out on an expedition
to South Florida, and visited the Indian tribes of the southern provinces.

The earliest and most energetic explorers of the Xew and much of the Old
\Voild have been pious priests of the Roman Catholic religion. While others
sought for gold, they laboied for souls among the natives, and. with the same
zeal that distinguished them everywhere else, did they labor in the unfruitful
vineyard of Florida The earliest explorers, DE LEON, NARVAEZ, DE SOTO,
and MENENDEZ, took with them zealous and learned priests, to whom we are
indebted for what we know of the Indian languages of North and South

230 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF C 1 St-

able objects, namely, two hundred pikes, a hundred and
twenty helmets, a quantity of arquebuses and shields, a
quantity of clothing, linen, fine cloths, two hundred tons of
flour, a good many barrels of biscuit, two hundred bushels of
wheat, three horses, four asses, and two she-asses, hogs,

America, and it ^as not until the expedition of MENEXDEZ that the Christian
leligion took deep lout in Florida.

In 1567, he sent the two learned missionaries ROGEL and VILLAREAL to the
Ca&wsasj and in the following year ten other missionaues ai lived The
majonty \\oiked with small piofit in the southein provinces, but Padre SEDENO
settled in the island of Guale, sometimes called St Jlfaty's, now Amelia Island
i Georgia), and was the fiist to diawup a giammai and catechism of any oiiginal
tongue noith of Me\ico At this penod the Spanish settlements consisted of
thiee colonies. Sf AztgztstiWibmlt south of where it now stands on St Nitholas
Creek , San Jfafeo, on the Sf Johris river, and San Felipe, in the province of
Oiista or St Helena, now South Carolina.

In addition to these, were two missionaiy stations at Cailos and Tocobajo^ on
the western coast , one at its southern extiemity, Ttgesta ; one in the province
of Ais or St Lucia ; and a fifth, founded by Father PARDO, one hundied and
fifty leagues inland, at Aixacan, at the foot of the mountains (Geoigia).

In 1592, twelve Franciscans were sent to Florida, and in less than two years
twenty mission houses \\eie established In addition, m 1612, thnty-two Fian-
ciiscans were sent out under GERONIMO DE ORE, by PHILIP III , and so gieat was
the success that the captam-geneial petitioned the King to erect the colony
into a bishopnc

The colony of Pensatola, or Santa Maria de Gafoe, on the west, and St.
Augustine, San Mateo^ Santa Cruet ^ and San Marco, and others, were described
as scrupulous in their observance of the ntes of the Catholic leligion. The
Franciscans built school-houses, and gave instruction to the children of the
natives. But at the close of the seventeenth century, the Indian tribes and
English of the Xorth diove out the colonists, bioke up and demolished the
work of the holy fathers of two centuries, which accounts for the lemains of
churches, convents, and stately edifices now to be seen along the old Spanish
highways,fiom St. Attgwtineto Pensacola. (See JSnntotfs Flondian Peninsula >
first Series FrencKs Historical Collections of Louisiana, vote. 3 and^ pp. 2036

15630 LOUISIANA A.\'D FLORIDA 231

tallow, books, furnace, flour-mill, and many other things of
little value But the greatest advantage of this victory is
certainly the triumph which our Lord has granted us, and
which will be the means of the holy Gospel being introduced
into this country, a thing necessary to prevent the loss of
many souls.

On Monday, the 24th September, 1565, at the vesper
hour, our captain-general arrived with fifty foot-soldiers.
He was very tired, as well as those who accompanied him.
As soon as I learned that he was coming, I ran to my room,
put on a new cassock, the best I possessed, and a surplice ;
and, taking a crucifix in my hand, I went a certain distance to
receive him before he arrived in port ; and he, like a gentle-
man and a Christian, knelt, as well as all those who came
with him, and returned a thousand thanks for the great
favors he had received from God. My companions and I
walked ahead in a procession, singing the Te Dtuin landa-
mus, so that our meeting was one of the greatest joy. Our
general's zeal for Christianity is so great that all his troubles
are but repose for his mind. I am sure that no merely
human strength could have supported all that he has suf-
fered, but the ardent desire which he has to serve
our Lord in destroying the Lutheran heretics, the enemies
of our holy Catholic religion, causes him to be less
sensible of the ills he endured.

On Friday, the 28th September, and while the captain-
general was asleep, resting after all the fatigues he had
passed through, some Indians came to the camp, and

232 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OP L I 5 6 5

made us understand, by signs, that on the coast towards
the south there was a French vessel which had been
wrecked. Immediately our general directed the admiral
to arm a boat, take fifty men, and go down the river
to the sea, to find out what was the matter. About two
o'clock, the captain-general sent for me, and as he is
very earnest, especially about this expedition, he said,
** MEXDOZA, it seems to me I have not done right in
separating myself from those troops." I answered, "Your
Lordship has done perfectly right ; and if you wanted to
undertake a new course, I and your other servants would
oppose it, and shield you from the personal dangers to
which you would be exposed." And, notwithstanding I
sought to gain him over by such speeches, he would not
abandon his project ; but told me, in a decided tone, that
he wished to set out, and that he commanded me and the
captains who remained at the port to accompany him. He
said there should be in all twelve men to go in the
boat, and two of them Indians, who would serve as guides.
\Ve set off immediately to descend the river to the sea, in
search of the enemy ; and to get there, we had to march
more than two leagues through plains covered with brush,
often up to our knees in water, our brave general always
leading the march. When we had reached the sea, we went
about three leagues along the coast in search of our com-
rades. It was about ten o'clock at night when we met them,
and there was a mutual rejoicing at having found each other.
Not far off, we saw the camp fires of our enemies, and our

LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 233

general ordered two of our soldiers to go and reconnoSter
them, concealing themselves in the bushes, and to observe
well the ground where they were encamped, so as to know
what could be done. About two o'clock the men returned,
saying that the enemy was on the other side of the river,
and that we could not get at them. Immediately the
general ordered two soldiers and four sailors to return to
where we had left the boats, and bring them down the
river, so that we might pass over to where the enemy was :
then he marched his troops forward to the river, and we
arrived before daylight. We concealed ourselves in a hollow
between the sand-hills, with the Indians who were \\ith us:
and when it became light, we saw a great many of the
enemy go down to the river to get shell-fish for food. Soon
after, we saw a flag hoisted, as a war-signal. Our general,
\\ho was observing all that, enlightened by the Holy Spirit,
said to us, " I intend to change these clothes for those of a
sailor, and take a Frenchman with me (one of those whom
we had brought with us from Spainj y and we will go and
talk with these Frenchmen. Perhaps they are without
supplies, and would be glad to surrender without righting."
He had scarcely finished speaking, before he put his plan
into execution. As soon as he had called to them, one of
them swam towards and spoke to him ; told him of their
having been shipwrecked, and the distress they were in;
that they had not eaten bread for eight or ten days ; and,
what is more, stated that all/ or at least the greater part of
them, were Lutherans. Immediately the general sent him

234 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS

back to his countrymen, to say they must surrender, and
give up their arms, or he would put them all to death. A
French gentleman, who was a sergeant, brought back the
reply that they would surrender, on condition their lives
should be spared. After having parleyed a long time, our
brave captain-general answered, "that he would make no
promises ; that they must surrender unconditionally, and lay
down their arms ; because if he spared their lives, he wanted
them to be grateful for it ; and if they zcerc put to death,
that there should te no cause for complaint" Seeing that
there was nothing else left for them to do, the sergeant
returned to the camp ; and soon after he brought all their
arms and flags, and gave them up to the general, and
surrendered unconditionally- Finding they were all Lu-
therans, the captain-general ordered them all to be put
to death; but as I was a priest, and had bowels of
mercy, I begged him to grant me the favor of sparing those
whom we might find to be Christians. He granted it ; and
I made investigations, and found ten or twelve of the men
Roman Catholics, whom we brought back. All the others
were executed, because they were Lutherans and enemies
of our Holy Catholic faith. All this took place on Saturday
(St. Michael's Day), September 29, 1565.

I, FRANCISCO LOPEZ DE MENDOZA GRAJALES, Chaplain
of His Lordship, certify that the foregoing is a statement
of what actually happened.

FRANCISCO LOPEZ DE MENDOZA GRAJALES.

OF

HERNAXDO D'ESCALAXTE FOXTAXEDO."

OX THE COUNTRY AND AXCIEXT IXDIAX
TRIBES OF

FLORIDA.

TRVNSLUED FROM TERXAUX COMPASS FRENCH TRANSLATION FROM THE
ORIGLNU, MiMOIR LN SPANISH

CHAPTER I.

MOXSEIGXEUR : *

HAVE the honor to inform you that
Florida ,and the Lucayan Islands are
situate on one side of the Bahama told)
Channel, which passes between Haranna
(Cuba) and Florida. But nearer the
mainland, extending from east to west,
lie other islands, called the Martyrs (Los Martires), on
account of the great number of men who have been put to

* The \\nter of this memon was born in Carthagtna. in 1538, and was ship-
wrecked and captured off the coast of Florida by the Indians. He "was spared
and brought up among them, and learned to speak four Indian languages, and
calls attention to \\hat has since been termed their u pol} synthetic ' structure.
He afterwards returned to Spain, and accompanied the expedition of Don
PE^DRO MENENDEZ to Florida, m 1565, as interpreter. " Thi* memoir/* says
BRINTON, " is particularly valuable in locating the ancient Indian tribes of
Florida, and was written after the death of MENENDEZ.*'

236 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

r
death there ; and on the rocks of the coast, where a great

many have been shipwrecked. These islands are inhabited
by a tall race of men and women graceful and well-featured.
There are two Indian, villages on these islands, one of which
is called Guaragunvc or the Village of Tears (Pueblo de
Llantc] ; and the other, smaller in size, Citchiyaga, which sig-

NARRATIVE

OF

The \o\age made byGuiDO DE LAS BAZARES, to discover ports and bays on
the coast of Florida, for the safety of the troops to be sent theie, in the
name of his Majesty, PHILIP II., King of Spam, undei the ordeib of Don
Luis DE VELASCO, Viceroy of Mexico, 1558.

T was about four 01 five months ago that Don Luis DE VELASCO,
Viceioy of Mexico, ordeied, in the name of his Majesty, PHILIP
II , King of Spain, GUIDO *DE LAS BAZARES to proceed with the
marines and other persons to explore the coasts and harbors of
Florida, for the greater safety of all persons who should go there, in the name
of his Majesty, to colonize Florida. He was accordingly commissioned, and
ordered to set sail from the port of San-Juan-de-Lua, New Spam, on the 3d
of September, 1558, to explore the coast of Florida, with a laige baik, galley,
and shallop, manned with sixty seamen and soldiers. On the loth of September,
he armed at Pamtco, and from thence he departed, and arrived on the coast of
Florida, in 27^ degrees of north latitude. Continuing along the coast, he
discovered a bay in 28^ degrees north latitude, which he named San Francisco,
and took possession of it in the name of his Majesty, and from thence to the
Alaranes> the coast of which extends from north-west to south-east ; but contrary
winds having prevented him from approaching the coast where he desired, he
landed in 2C/J degrees of north latitude, and discovered an island, which was,
perhaps, four leagues from the mainland , he passed within this island [supposed
to be Dauphin, Bay of Mobile^ and the mainland, and other islands, and after
having explored all the coast, he observed that it was. bordered by marshy
grounds, and was not m a favorable situation to begin a colony, as it was liable

LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA. 237

nifies the place where martyrdom has been suffered. These
Indians possess neither gold nor silver, and still less clothing,
for they go almost naked, wearing only a sort of apron. The
dress of the men consists of braided palm-leaves, and that of
the women of moss, which grows on trees, and somewhat
resembles wool. Their common food consists of fish,

to be submerged in many places , ne\ertheless, he took possession of the country
in the name of his Majesty, and gave it the name, of Bay of Bas-Fcnde. From
thence he sailed ten leagues further to the east, where he discovered a bay which
he named Filipino,? it being the largest and most commodious ba\ on the coast.
The entrance is in 30^ degrees ; and on entering the bay, he passed the point of
an island [now called Santa Rosa\ seven leagues long, and steered E S, E.
On the other side of the bay lies the mainland, \vhich is, perhaps, half a league
wide from point to point. Of all the discoveries made from east to west, there
is no bay so accessible and commodious as this The bottom is of mud, and
the harbor is from four to five fathoms deep at low tide. The channel is three
to four fathoms deep, and at high water near one fathom more The climate is
very healthy, and similar to that of Spain. It abounds in all kinds of fish and
ojsteis The pine forests are extensive* and can be used for ship-building.
There are, besides, live oak, cypress, ash, palmetto, laurel, cedar, and other trees,
one of which yields a fruit resembling the chestnut. All of these trees com-
mence to grow near the shore, and extend for many leagues into the interior of
the country.

Small rivulets of water fall into the bay, where there is a large opening
which appears to be the mouth of a great river. While in this bay, he went to
examine the water on the north side, where the trees are not so dense, and
where cavaliers might hold their tournaments, and find grass for their horses.
In the rear of this bay, in an easterly diiection, are high hills of a reddish clay,
from which earthenware can be maanufactured. Here can at all times be seen

* The present Bay of Pensacola^ sometimes called by the Indian name, Ockuse
(Hoth* Uski) Choctaw), or Uthuse by Spanish navigators in the sixteenth
century. It was discovered by MAUDONADO, one of DE SOTO'S officer^ ; and is
about eleven miles from the Gulf of

238 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [l5 6 S-

turtles, snails, tunny-fish, and whales, which they catch in
their seasons. Some of them also eat the wolf-fish, but this
is not a common thing, owing to certain distinctions which
they make between proper food for the chiefs and that of
their subjects. On these islands is found a shell-fish known
as the langosta, a sort of lobster, and another known in

a great variety of wild game, such as eagles, tuike\s, geese, ducks, paitudges,
doves, etc On the shores of this bay, he observed a laige number of canoes
which the Indians use when they go to fish and hunt game, as well as Indian
huts, surrounded with maize, beans, and pumpkins. He took possession of this
country in the name of his Majesty, \\hich is distant about two hundied and
sixty leagues fiom the poit of San-Juan-dt-Lita [Veia Ciuz]

Contiary \\mds now prevented him fiom advancing any faithei, although
he returned t\uce to the bay of Fihpina^ which he afteivvaids named Velasco.
As the winter was no\\ appi caching, the pilots and sailors weie of the opinion
the weather would not be favoiable for further exploiations of the coast, and
he deemed it advisable to return to New Spain to report the discovenes he had
made, with the intention of returning again to the coasts of Flouda to make
further discovenes He accordingly left the coas>t on the 3d of Decembei, and
arrived at San-Juan-de-Lua on the I4th , and herewith ceitifieb that the above
statement is a tiue account of what took place. And this declaration having
been read to him, he has approved the same, and signed it with his name

GUIDO DE LAS BAZARES.

Signed and swoin to, before me, fiist notaiy of the government of New

Spam,

ANTONIO DE FURCIOS.

And confirmed in all its particulais by us, who made the voyage with him,

HERNAND PEREZ

CONSTANTINO ORE; A DE SAN REMON.

BERNOLDO PELOSO.

JU\N MUNOS ARVAEZ.

The above statement was made and read in presence of Father PEDRO DE
FERIA, Vicar-General of the province of Florida ; DOMINGO DE SALAZAR, his

1565.] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 239

Spain as the chaptn (trunk-fish), of \\lnch they consume not
less than the former. There are also on the islands a great
number of animals, especially deer t and on some of them
large bears are found. These islands extend from west to
east, and as the mainland of Florida Jies at no great distance
to the eastward, these animals could easily pass over from

friend, and FRANCISCO DE AGUILAR, notary, who accompanied the expedition to
the coast of Florida To which is herewith added the following account of the
voyage of Don ANGEL DE VILLAFANE, Governor and Captain-General of the
provinces of Florida,* that terminate at a point (on the Atlantic coast) called
St Helena (South Carolina), in 32 degrees north latitude,

On the 27th of May, 1561, the Governor, with two frigates* and a caravel,
arrived at St. Helena (sound), and sailed up the river ( 'Jordan j four or five
leagues, and took possession of the country in the name of his Majesty CHARLES
IX. ; but, not discovering a convenient port or land suitable for a colony, he
returned to sea, and followed the coast in search of a port , and having doubled
Cape San Roman (Fear), in 34 degiees north latitude, he landed on the 2d
of June, and ordered a ship to make soundings, and found the bottom good ,
and from thence he went into the interior until he came to a large river which
discharged its \\ aters near the cape (Sin Roman j, and took possession of the
country and called it " Jordan? and proceeded to sea. On the Sth of June,
he returned and re-entered the river Jordan (St. Helena Sound), M. ith two frig-
ates, but, not finding a suitable harbor, he again returned to sea, and was annoyed
with the discovery that the frigate San Juan had fouled her anchor, and lost it near
Cape San Roman. He continued his exploration along the coast with two frigates,
and sent the treasurer, Don ALOXZO VELASQUEZ, with one of them to the river
of Canoes (De las Canoas), in latitude 34^ degrees north, which he ascertained
to be one and a half fathoms deep at one and a half leagues from its mouth
He afterwards rejoined the Governor, who continued to examine the coast until
the i-i-th of June, when he reached Cape Trafalgar (Lookout), in 35 degrees,
north latitude

At ten o'clock at night, a tempest arose, and the caravel was near being lost.

* Sent out by Don FRANCISCO DE G\RVY, Viceroy of Jamaica, with instruc-
tions to make an examination of the coasts of Florida,
17

240 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

the peninsula, and thence from island to island. To us,
however, who found ourselves prisoners there, it seemed
strange to see deer in the island of Cuchiyaga, and also to
hear them frequently spoken of elsewhere. There are many
other things which I could tell about, but must omit them
for the present, for those of more importance. On these

as \\ell as both frigates. They were surrounded by shoals and a submerged
coast, and, being far away fioin any port, the Governor and pilots decided to pro-
ceed on their \oyage, until they leached the poit of Monte Chnsto^ in the island
of Hispaniola, where the Go\ernor landed on the gth of July, 1561 ; and at the
request of Governor Don AXGEL VILLAFAXE, I, the undersigned notary, being
informed of all the facts of the voyage made by him, have wntten the foregoing
statement at the port of Monte Chnsto, St Domingo, this tenth day of July, 1561.
To which I affix the seal of my office to the original, this fifth day of May, 1565,
and transmit the same to the King's Council of the Indies,

(Signed,) TELLO DE SANDOVAL .

le hcencie Don GOMEZ DE ZAPATA ;
le hcencie Don ALONSO MUNOS ,
Don LUIS DE MOLINA.

DON GOSZALO PEREZ, Secretary of the Council of the Indies, at the same time
he presented the above to the President, laid before him a memorandum from
the King requesting the Council to give him their definition of the rights of the
King to Florida, and whether the French can take possession of that country and
build forts there. The Council informed the King that his title to the country of
Florida is clear and indisputable, and founded on the gift of Pope ALEXANDER
VI ,* and the taking possession of that country by Governor-General Don ANGEL

* In 1496, the English, emulous of the discoveries and man time glory of
Spam and Portugal, and indifferent to the Pope's charter of donation, fitted out
an expedition under letters patent from HENRY VII. to JOHN CABOT and his
three sons, to seek for a western passage, to the north of the new Spanish dis-
coveries, to Cathay (India.) In the prosecution of this scheme, the CABOTS dis-
covered Newfoundland, and probably explored the coast of North America

I565-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA. 241

Islands also are found a species of tree or wood, which \ve
call guaiacum or lignum-vitcz (Guaiacum Officinalei, and
which physicians know is useful for many purposes ; also
fruit trees of different kinds. It is useless to speak of the
great variety of fruits found there. Westward of these
islands lies a great channel, through which no pilot dares to

DE VILLAFAXE, is the same country which the French have recently taken pos-
session of and built a fort there called Carolm and the same country \\ hich
GUIDO DE LAb BAZA.RES took formal possession of in 1558, and vxhich the
fleets and ships of the King of Spam have at different times explored and
taken possession of. JUAN POXCE DE LEOX was the first to disco\ er and take

south as far as Florida. While state policy and ambition weie thus powerfully
seconded by individual enterprise, the New World became the grand lottery of
of the Old Spain and Portugal reacted upon each other in their successive
discoveries , and now that COLUMBUS and VESPUCIUS had planted the Cross as
the insignia of conquest and possession on many a barbarous coast m Africa and
America, and though those unexplored countries may be thought to have lain
too far apart to produce clashing interests, still they begot great international
jealousies.

And as Rome was still the Court of final appeal to Christendom, and the Pope
the source whence all new rights of sovereignty were derived, the Pope was
called upon by Spain and Portugal to decide this knotty question, and the
famous ALEXANDER VI. issued in 1496 a bull of donation fixing as limits of par-
tition a meridian drawn 100 leagues west of the Azores and Cape de Verd
Islands ; and assigned to Spain the dominion of all lands newly discovered, or to
be discovered, as far as 180 degrees to the west of this Ime ; and to Portugal all
that lay within the same extent eastward of the meridian assumed. Neither
England nor France, however, acknowledged any right in the Pope to make
such magnificent gifts of unknown territory, and sent out expedition after expe-
dition to make discoveries without asking leave of his Holiness. And as nei-
ther STpaiu nor Portugal questioned the inherent right of the Pope to gift the
world to them as a theater for plunder and spoliation, the limits of partition
became a long and fertile subject of difference between themselves and others.

242 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

pass with a large vessel, because, as stated elsewhere, exist
towards the west a number of treeless islands. Formerly
they were probably covered with earth which the tides have
carried off, leaving only barren shores of sand about seven
miles in circumference. They are called The Tortugas,
because of the great number of tortoises that collect there

possession , after him, LUCAS VASQUEZ DE AYLLON , and aftei him, PAMFILO
DE NARVAEZ , and after NARVAEZ, HERXANDO DE SOTO All of whom, and
many others, were commissioned by youi Majesty to explore and take posses-
sion of Florida. And therefore the French have no right to inteifere, as they
might hereafter build forts, interrupt commeice, and capture the ships of youi
Majesty coming from the Indies.

EARLY EXPLORATIONS

OF THE

GULF OF MEXICO AND ATLANTIC COAST OF FLORIDA

THE name of America was first given to the New World m 1507 " La
Denomination d'Amenque a e'te propose'e loin de Seville en Lorraine en
1507. Les mappe Monde qui portent le nom d'Amenque n'ont paiti que
8 ou 10 ans apres la mort de Vespuce." Humboldfs Geogr du Nouveciu
Continent, vol. 5, p. 206

UAN PONCE DE LEON, in 1513, with his pilot, ALAMINOS, in coast-
ing the Gulf of Mtjnco, occasionally landed and gave names to
several places along the Florida Keys as far as the present " Chai-
lotte Bay" and after cruising among the Lucayan Islands, in search
of the fountain of youth, he discovered the mainland of Florida, in about latitude
30 V% near the mouth of the present St. Johrfs river.

DIEGO MIRUELO, a celebrated pilot, sailed fiom Cuba in 1516, with a single
vessel, to the Florida coast, and obtained from the Indians pieces of gold, and
without further exploration he leturned to Cuba, and gave the most glowing
account of the country.

HERNANDEZ DE CORDOVA, in 1517, sailed west from Cuba in three small

I56S-] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 243

to rest during the night. These tortoises are about the size
of a large shield, have as much flesh as a cow, are all meat,
and still they are fish. Going northward, between Havanna
and Florida, and towards the islands, the Tortugas are first
met. The Martyr Islands are forty leagues from Havanna*
twenty from the Tortugas, and twenty leagues more to

vessels with ANTONIO ALAMIXOS, who hud been with COLUMBUS as chief pilot,
and relying upon the opinion of COLUMBUS, who maintained that a westerly
course would lead to important discoveries, he sailed west from Cuba and struck
Cape Catoche, Yucatan. As he approached the shore, five canoes full of people
clad in cotton garments an astonishing spectacle to the Spaniards, who had
only seen naked Indians in other parts of America. Without losing sight of the
coast he discovered the nver Potonchan, near Campeachy % where he landed his
troops to collect water, when the natives attacked him with such fur>, that after
losing half his men, and sinking under the wounds he received, he returned to
Cuba, T\here he died soon after he landed

JUAN DE GRIJALVA, by order of VEIASQUEZ, Governor of Cuba, explored the
coast of the Gulf of Mexico, with ANTONIO ALAMIXOS as pilot, in 1518, as far as
Cabo Rosso, in latitude 21 45', near Tampico, and brought home with him a
large amount of gold , and in his admiration of the country, which resembled
Spam, he called it New Spain (Mexico). He continued to sail west beyond
Tabasco, and was received by the natives as superior beings, \i ith incense and
choice offerings of ornaments of gold of curious workmanship.

He finally reached San Juan de Ulloa> and after sending dispatches to Velas-
quez, with an account of his discoveries, he returned to Cuba ; and in the fol-
lowing year, the famous HERNANDO CORTEZ, burning for conquest, took with
him ANTONIO ALAMINOS as pilot, which resulted in his invasion and conquest
of Mexico

ANTONIO DE ALAMINOS was dispatched by HERANDO CORTEZ, in 1519, with
treasures from Vera Cruz to the King of Spam, and passed into the Atlantic
Ocean through the Florida channel, which he had previously discovered, as the
chief pilot of PONCE DE LEON.

ALONZO ALVAREZ DE PINEDA was ordered by FRANCISCO DE GARAY, Gov-
ernor of Jamaica, in 1519, to explore the coast of the Gulf of Mtxico^TA in sail-
ing along the coast he discovered the mouths of the Mississippi, and explored all

244 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

Florida, that is, to arrive at the Indian province of Carlos*
(or Calos), of which the name signifies "cruel village." It
is thus named because the inhabitants are barbarous and
very adroit in the handling of arms. They are masters of a
part of the country extending as far as the village of

* Probably so called from the name of its chief, who, heaiing from his Span-
ish captives of the grandeur and power of CHARLES V (Carlos V ), in emu-
lation appropriated the name to himself " It is still preserved," says BRIN-
TON, "in the Seminole appellation of the Sanybal river, Cailosa-hatchie, Cayo-
Hueso (Key West), and Cayo- J^acas, names of the latest lesidences of the
Caloosas, before they were driven from Florida, and went to Havana "

the shore iromPanuco to Cape Flouda, and directing his course north, he found
that Flonda was not an island, but a peninsula, joined to a great continent
(Xavarrete Viages Menoies) in the noith, and afteiward returned to Vera Cruz.
Still CORTEZ believed there might be found in the interior of the country another
Mexico, and hence two expeditions were fitted out, one under PAMFILO DE
NARVAEZ, in 1528, and one under HERNANDO DE SOTO, in 1538-1543.

LUCAS VASQUEZ DE ALLVON dispatched two vessels from San Domingo, in
1520, on an expedition to capture the natives in the Lucayan group to sell as
sla\es to the planters of that island and Cuba , but on reaching the Lucayan
islands he found them almost depopulated, and pursued their voyage along the
coast of Florida north of Savannah as far as Cape St Helena, and aftei discover-
ing an inhabited country, " called by the natives Clucoia," and extiemely fertile,
they returned to San Domingo with captured natives In 1523, DE ALLYON
obtained from the King*of Spam a royal grant, with the title of Adelantado, and
fitted out an expedition of four vessels in 1526, with five hundred men, to estab-
lish a colony in " Chicora," South Carolina. On entering the country he took
possession in the name of the King, and explored it as far as " San Migitel
Guaddlpe? where he spent a winter, and where many of his men sickened and
died , and in attempting to capture the natives to carry them into slavery, he lost
his life, and left his nephew, DON JUAN RAMIREZ, as Governor.

FRANCIS I., King of France, fitted out an expedition of four ships in 1524,
under the*command of GIOVANNI DA VERRAZANO, to make discoveries, as weU as

IS 6 S-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 245

Guasaca, near the Lake Slayaimi* thus named on account
of its great size.

In going from Havanna to the opposite shore, the chain
of the Martyr Islands commences near the coast of Florida.
Here one finds himself about sixty leagues from the islands

explore the coast of Flonda, and armed in sight of land March 24, 1524. in lati-
tude of 34 north, which brought him north of Pott fiayjJ, St Hekni so and
At this point, instead of exploring the southern coast of Florida, he sailed north,
and landed at different points along the coasts of Caiolma, Virginia, Xew York,
Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Maine , and \vith untiring zeal, searched
every bay and river for a passage to the westward, until he reached Newfound-
land, and gave to the whole coast discovered, the name of Xew France

On his return to France he fitted out another expedition with the sanction of
FRANCIS I , for the establishment of a colony in the newly-discovered countries
but the bold navigator ne\er returned to France, and nothing certain is known
of his fate It is somewhat remarkable that three Italians should have directed
the discoveiies of France, Spain, and England, and thus became the instruments
of dividing the dominions of the new world among alien powers, while their own
classic land reaped neither glory nor advantage from the genins and courage of
her sons. And that in less than three centuries after, neither France nor Spam
held a foot of territory on the Atlantic coast or Gu If of Mexico.

PAMFILO BE NARVAEZ was duly commissioned to fit out a fleet in 1527 to
conquer and govern the country on the Gulf of JfexicO) extending from the
river of Palms (near Tamptco] to Cape Flonda. He sailed from the poit of 5A
Lucar on the i^th June with five vessels, carrying six hundred men, to establish
a colony ; but, owing to detentions, he did not reach the bay of JSsJflntu Santo
(Tampa Bay), Floiida, until Holy Thursday, April 14, 1528. He took formal
possession of this vast territory on the Gulf of Sfextca on Good Friday, and
issued a proclamation to the Indians that unless they acknowledged the sove-
reignty of the Pope and the Emperor (Charles V.) they, their wives, and children
shall be made slaves of, and sold as they shall think fit ( See proclamation pub-
lished tn tkis volume, p. 153.) The natives met him w ith a bold front on his land-
ing, and motioned to him to go back to his ships. He left one hundred men on
board of his ships, and w ith the remainder he set out to explore the country, de-
termined to proceed" to the head- waters of the Apalachee^ where he expected to find

246 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

of the other extremity of the group. There are several
channels, of which the principal one is very wide, and of
variable depths. The greatest width, as nearly as I ran
remember, from the report of the Indians, is towards the
Bermuda Islands. I shall now say no more on this subject,

the treasuies of gold and silver he came in search of. But, after disastrous wander-
ings over a last country without finding any gold, and greatly discouraged as to
the natuie and lesources of the country, he turned his expedition toward the sea,
and after nine days of fighting \vith the natives, ^hom he represented as men of
fine proportions, tall, and great strength, \\ho dischatged their anows with great
force, he finally leached Ante, on the sea-coast, now known as St. Marks (San
Maico d'Apalachee), and near the Bay of Apalachicola Utterly dispirited, he
embarked the remnant of his half-staived troops m rude and hastily-built boats
for Pamico on the 22d September, 1528 , and after enteimg the sea, and encoun-
tering violent storms, he and most of his companions were swallowed up in
the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The survivors, CABECA DE VACA and three
others, remained six years in the country among the coast Indians, and finally
found their way back, after incredible hardships, to Mexico , and, on his retuin
to Spain, DE VACA published an interesting nanative of his adventures.

After the death of NARVAEZ, the vast country comprehended under the name
of Florida still remained unexplored, when HERNANDO DE SOTO obtained per-
mission from the King of Spain to conquer Florida. Arriving at Cuba fiom
Spain, he sailed from Havana on Sunday, May 18, 1539, with four ships, three
cara\els, and three transports with horses, twelve priests, eight assistants, and
four friars , six hundred and twenty soldiers and two hundied and twenty-three
horses ; with the title of Adelantado and Alguazil Mayor over two hundred
leagues of the coast he should discover between the province of Rio de las
Palmas and Florida ; and after a prosperous voyage he landed at the Bay of
Espiritu Santo (Tampa Bay) on Whitsunday, the 25th May, 1539, an< ^ the name
of Espiritu Santo was given in honor of the day.

It is not the purpose of this sketch to describe all the bloody battles of
DE SOTO with the natives of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Aikan-
sas, through which he maiched ; but, cutting his way from Tampa. JBay, he
arrived at Anaica Apalache* in the neighborhood of the present town of Tatta-
, about thirty miles from the present St. Marks, where he discovered the

LOUISIANA A. YD FLORIDA. 247

but describe the group of the Martyr Islands lying to the
northward.

These islands terminate near an Indian village called
Tegcsta* built on the borders of a riven which takes its rise
in the interior. It runs through fifteen leagues of country,

* The province of Tegesta is situated to the west of the Cakcza^ and
embraced a stung of villages stretching from Cape Catiaveral to the southern
extremity of Florida. The more northern portion was, says BRINTOX, called
Ais, from the native word aisa, deer. The residence of the paracousw, or chief,
was near Cape Canaveral (Conentes).

lemains of NARVAEZ' encampment, and learned here that a country to the north
(Georgia) abounded in gold. He marched in the direction of the Savannah
river to its head-waters, and from thence to Guaxuk on the Conasauga t and down
its western bank to Cktaha, now the site of the present town of Rome About this
time he was informed by an Indian chief that in the mountains of the north, at a
place called Chisca, there were copper mines. On the 2d July, after a march of
ten days, he reached the town of Costa (Alabama). The expedition now began
to enter the province of Cooca, \vhose fertility was known to all the Indians,
which now embrace the counties of Cherokee, Benton, Talladega, and Cooca. At
the town of Cooca he was met by a thousand warriors, tall and admirably pro-
portioned, dressed in splendid mantles of marten skins, their heads adorned with
brilliant feathers of different colors, and armed with bows and arrows.

On leaving Cooca he arrived at Tattassec September 15, where he found ex-
tensive fields of corn, beans and pumpkins. Having remained here twenty
days, he crossed the Talfapcosa, and proceeded towards Maubila on Choctaw
Bluff, where he arrived October 18, 1540. Here he had a battle with the natives,
which lasted nine hours, and where DE Soro lost more than, one hundred of his
men, including officers. Having suffered so severely, he proceeded on his march
to the Pafallaya country, now embraced in Clark, Marengo, and Green counties,
where he was attacked by fifteen hundred Indians, which he drove back into the
Black Warrior river. He now led hi& troops across the river, and continued his
march to the town of Cktckasa, now embraced in Yalobusha county. The cold
weather now set in, and the Chief of the Chickasa Nation became his constant
visitor. Upon the appearance of Spnug (1541), the Chukasa Indians pressed

248 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

and flows from a fresh-water lake, which the Indians visit
and pretend it forms a part of Lake Mayaimi (Okechobee).
This lake is situated in the midst of the country, and is sur-
rounded by a great number of villages of from thirty to forty
inhabitants each, who live on bread made from roots during
most of the year. They cannot procure it, however, when

upon him with several thousands of armed men, but at length they fled from the
field of battle, pursued by DE SOTO and his army

On the 25th April, 1541, DE SOTO maiched northwest through a champagne
country thickly populated, and attacked the Indian foi tress of Ahbamo^ situated
upon the Yasoo liver, in the county of Tallahatchie, \\hich he captuied In
May, 1541, he reached the Mississippi nver, and was the fiist to cioss it, unless*
CABEZA DE VACA had crossed it twelve yeais before

DE SOTO now consumed a year in exploung what is now called Arkansas, and
returned to the Mississippi at Guachayo^ below the mouth of the Arkansas river,
in May, 1542 Here he became sick, and died on the last of May, 1542. And
to conceal his death from the Indians, he was silently plunged, by the dim light
of the stars, into the muddy waters of that river ; and the remainder of his army,
after having consumed several years m wandenng over the vast regions of
Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Aikansas, built brigantines, sailed
down the Mississippi , and reached Mexico in September, 1543.

FRANCISCO MALDINADO* who had been sent from Apalachicola by DE SOTO
with the brigantines to look for a port to the westward, discovered the Bay
of PenBacola (Ochuse) in 1539, and returned to Cuba and in the summer of
1541-2, touched again at Ockuse and at other points on the Gulf of Mexico.
He and his distinguished associate, GOMEZ ARIAZ, m the spring of 1543, deter-
mined not to give up the search for DE SOTO, touched at Vera Cruz, where they
learned of the death of Dt, SOTO upon the Mississippi, and that only three hun-
dred of his men had reached Mexico Notwithstanding the failure of DE
SOTO to establish a colony in Florida, the religious zeal of the Franciscans still
remained unabated, to plant a colony and Chustianize the natives They con-
sequently addressed a memorial to the Emperor, setting forth the great richness
of Florida, and the immense benefits which would result to the cause of religion
and the empire from its acquisition. The Viceroy of New Spam (Mexico) was
accordingly instructed by the Emperor to fit out an expedition, which sailed from.

1565.] LOUISIANA AX& FLORIDA 249

the waters of the lake rise very high. They have roots
which resemble the truffles of this country (Spain*, and have
besides excellent fish. Whenever game is to be had. either
deer or birds, they eat meat. Large numbers of very fat
eels are found in the rivers, some of them as large as a man's
thigh, and enormous trout, almost as large as a man's body,
although smaller ones are also found. The natives eat
lizards, snakes, and rats, \\hich infest the lakes, fresh-water

Vera Cruz in 1559, under the command of DON TRISTAN* DE LUNA Y AVELLAXO
with fifteen hundred soldiers, and a large number of fnars burning -with zeal to
convert the natives ; and on the 1-j.th August they reached the bay of Santa
Mana Fihpina (Pensacola), and six days after he arrived, a terrific gale wrecked
a part of his fleet He dispatched, however, four companies, with two friars,
to penetrate the country as far as the province of Coca, and with the remainder
of the expedition he established himself at the port (P&isacola) The expe-
dition reached an Indian town on the river (supposed to be the Alabama nver),
which they named Santa Cruz Xapicnoca^ \sheie it was afterwards joined by DON
TRISTAN DE LUNA, and from thence they proceeded on their march to other
Indian towns on the banks of a river called Qhbaka (supposed to be the Coosa)
\\ here they procured a supply of provisions, and some days after they reached
the famous province of Coca. Here they remained some weeks, but the obstacles
they encountered with the natives, and scarcity of provisions, so discouraged
them that they abandoned the expedition and returned to the bay of Santa
Mana (Pensacola) T and afterwards to Vet a Cruz. This expedition establishes
the fact that the whole of this region was visited by the Spaniards from 1539 to
1566, and was the last of the exploring expeditions sent to Florida by the
Spaniards prior to the landing of RIBAULT and LAUDONNIERE to found a French
colony of Protestants on the Atlantic coast of Florida. See Htstorual Collection*
of Louisiana, Narratives of HERNANDO DE SOTO and BIEDMA, rol 2, pp 177-362,
GARCILASSO DE LA VEGA, pp. 272-326, FAIRBANKS' Ffanda, p. 81-3, PICKET'S
Alabama^ Vol i^pp. 5-52, CARDENAS (Barcia) Ensayo Chrvnologico ffistoria Gene-
ral de la Florida^ 20-52, Naufragtos de ALVAR NrNEZ CABECA DE VACA $
Relacion de la lomada qite hizod la Florida, con el Adelantade PAMFILO DE
12-36.

250 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ I $ 65 .

turtles, and many other animals which it would be tiresome
to enumerate. They live in a country covered with swamps
and cut up by high bluffs. They have no metals, nor any-
thing belonging to the Old World. They go naked, except
the women, who wear little aprons woven of shreds of palm.
They pay tribute to CARLOS, composed of all the objects I
have spoken, such as fish, game, roots, deer-skins, etc.

i 5 6 5 .]

LOUISIANA A*V> FLORIDA

CHAPTER II.

THINK from what I was told by some
Indians from the islands of Jeaga, at the
beginning of the Bahamas, that the au-
ditor LUCAS VASQUEZ D'AYLLOX,* of
San Domingo, accompanied by six of
his planters, came in vessels to visit

this country and the river St. Helena^ situated seven leagues
to the northward, on the banks of which is a village named
Orista^ but which by mistake they called Ckicora. They
saw another village, named Quatc^ but called by them Gual-
dape ; these are all they visited, as they did not explore
the interior. The truth is, there is neither gold nor silver

* To AYLLON -was given the title of Adelantado, to aid him in the con-
quest of Chicora (South Carolina), which he discovered, and described as a
rich and fertile country, abounding In valuable productions, and inhabited with
natives of a clear understanding, governed by a. king. One of his ships was
commanded by JORDAN, with MIRUELO as pilot, and reached the latitude of 34
degrees t the other, Cabo de Sf. JEleaa (Cape St Helena) ; and it is said he
also reached Bahia Santa Maria (Chesapeake Bay) in 1526. On the chart of
RIBERO, 1529, all the countries discovered by AYLLON are indicated under the
name of " Tierra de Ayllon," which covers all the territory south of the States
of Virginia, N. and S. Carolina, and Georgia. One of the objects of his several
expeditions was to capture slaves to sell in St. Domingo and Cuba. He died
in October, 1526, from wounds received in a battle with the natives.

252 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF L J 5 6 5-

within sixty leagues of this place, although I am in-
formed there are both gold and copper mines* in the
interior, towards the north. On the banks of a river and
of some of the lakes, are the Indian villages of Otopah,
Olgatano, and many others. The people are not of the
Chichimeque race, nor are they of the same race as the

inhabitants of the river Jordan. Their principal king is

*
called, in the language of the Carlos Indians, Zertepe,

and is superior to all the other chiefs, as MONTEZUMA was.
In that portion of the country which LUCAS VASQUEZ
D'AYLLON and other Spaniards visited, the inhabitants are
very poor. Some small pearls are found there, however, in
the shell-fish. The natives live on fish, large oysters, roasted
or raw, deer, roe-buck, and other animals. When the men
go out to hunt, the women collect wood and water to boil
or broil their food. If the Spaniards found gold there at
any time,' it must have been brought there from a great
distance, probably from the mountains of the domains of the
king of whom I have just spoken. It has been said the
Indians of Cuba worshiped the river of Jordan, but that is
not true.

JUAN PONCE DE LEON, believing the reports of the

* On the return of DE SOTO'S expedition to Mexico (New Spam), the soldiers
reported that gold, silver, and copper mines were found and worked by the
Indians in the Apalachian mountains, and subsequently by the Spaniards in
Northern Georgia. DE BRY and also other wiiters state that the Indians gathered
gold and silver to a limited extent from the streams of the auriferous moun-
tains of Carolina and Georgia, and worked them into ornaments, which they
wore as pendants.

IS65-] LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 253

Indians of Cuba and San Domingo to be true, made an
expedition into Florida to discover the river Jordan* This
he did either because he wished to acquire renown, or, per-
haps, because he hoped to become young again by bathing
in its waters. Many years ago, a number of Cuban Indians
went in search of this river, and entered the province of
Carlos (Calos),t but SEQUEXE, the father of CARLOS, took
them prisoners, and settled them in a village where their
descendants are still living. The news that these people
had left their own country to bathe in the river Jordan,
spread among all the kings and chiefs of Florida, and as
they were an ignorant people, they all set out in search of
this river, which was supposed to possess the power of reju-
venating old men and women. So eager were they in their
search, that they did not pass a river, a brook, a lake, or
even a swamp, without bathing in it ; and, even to this day,
they have not ceased to look for it, but always without any
success. The natives of Cuba, braving the dangers of the
sea, became victims to their faith, and thus it happened that

* Of all the historic names connected with Florida, none stand oat more
prominently than that of PONCE DE LEON. The romantic character of his
expeditions has won for him a name which will be kept in everlasting remem-
brance as a bold and adventurous cavalier and navigator. \Yith the pilot
ALAMINOS he discovered the Atlantic shore of Florida, near the mouth of the
Si. Johrfs river, in latitude 30^ degrees ; and the Gulf shore in latitude 24
degrees The exploration of the Gulf of Mexico was spread o\er a period of
twenty years

f All the tribes north of the province of Carlos, throughout the country
around the Hillsborottgk river, and probably from it to the Withlacooehe, and
easterly to the Ocklawaka^ appear to have lived under one chief or king.

2$4 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

they came to Carlos, where they built a village. They
came in such great numbers, that although many have died,
there are still many living 'there, both old and young.
While I was a prisoner in those parts, I bathed in a great
many rivers, but I never found the right one. It seems
incredible that JUAK PONCE DE LEON should have gone to
Florida to look for such a river.

Let us now speak of the Abolachi country, not far
distant from Panuco, where, it is reported, so many pearls
are found, and really do exist.

Between Abolachi and Olagale * is a river which the
Indians call Guasaca-Esgui, which means, translated into our
language, Reed river. It is on the sea-coast, and at the
mouth of this river, the pearls are found, in oyster and other
shells ; and from thence they are carried into all the provinces
and villages of Florida ; especially to Tocobajo, which is the
nearest place, and where the greatest cacique or king of this
country resides. This village is situated on the right, coming
from Havanna. The name of the chief is TOCO-BAJA-CHILE.
He has a great many subjects, is an independent chief, and
dwells on the other side of the river ; which extends more
than forty leagues into the interior of the country, where
FERDINAND DE SOTO intended to establish colonies, but was
prevented by death, when his followers disbanded and
returned to Spain. On their way back they hung the chief
of the Abolachi country, because he refused to provide them

* Olagale is probably the Ocale of DE SOTO, and Etocale of BIEDMA. (Histor-
ical Collections of Louisiana, vol. 2, pp. 92-130.)

1565.] LOUISIANA A-YD FLORIDA

03

with maize for their journey, or, as the Indians say, for the
sake of some large pearls which he wore on his neck, one of
which was as large as a ring-dove's egg. The natives say
there are no gold or silver mines in this country, at least
none known to them. They live on maize, fish, deer, roe-
bucks, and other animals ; but fish constitutes their principal
food. They make bread from roots which grow in the
swamps, and have a variety of fruits. The men and women
go almost naked. The former wear no other clothing
than aprons made of prepared deer skins, while the latter
make theirs of moss which grows on trees, and is not much
unlike hemp or wool.

Let us now leave Tocobajo, Abolachi, Olagale, and Mogozo,
which are distinct kingdoms, and speak of the villages and
market-towns of King CARLOS,* who was afterwards put to
death by Captain REYNOSO for some hostile demonstration.
The most important of these villages are Tampa, Tomo^
Tucki, Sogo, No (which means "beloved village"), Smapa,
Stnacsta, Metamapo, Sacaspada, Calaobc, Estanu, Yagita*
Guaya, Guemi, Muspa, Casitoa, Talesta, Coyovea, Juttin^
Teguemapo, Comackica, Lutseyove> besides two other villages

* The tribes of CALOS or CARLOS spoke different dialects, and resided m the
southern portion of Flonda. The Tinwquans lived along the coast north and
south of St. Augustine, the Timuquan dialect being used at San Mateo, Anla,
Machua, San Pedro^ etc. Father PAREJA, one of the founders of the Franciscan
Order in St Helena, Flonda, and guardian of the first convent established
there in 1578, published u Gramatica de la Lengua Timuiquana de Florida,
1614," " Catecismo de la Doctnna Christiana en Lengua Timuiquana, 1617;' and
the " Confesonario en lengua Timuiquana, Mexico, 1612."

256 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [ I 5 6 5-

whose names I do not recollect, as it is now ten years since
I was there. In the interior, on Lake Mayatmi, there are
Cutespa, Tavagueme, Tonsobe, Enempa, and others whose
names I have forgotten. In the Lucayan Islands there are
two Indian villages, subjects of King CARLOS, one of which
is called Guaragunve, and the other Cuchiaga. CARLOS was
sovereign of fifty villages, as his father had been up to the
time of his death. The power is now in the hands of his
son SEBASTIAN, who bears this name, because Don PEDRO
MENENDEZ DE AVILES conferred it upon him when he took
him to Havanna to be educated, and ordered him to be
called thus. Nothwithstanding the good treatment the
Indians received from MENENDEZ, they revolted a second
time, which was more serious than the first. It would still
have been more unfortunate if they had been baptized, for I
have heard them say Christianity was forbidden among them.
Most of our strategy was known to them. They are athletic,
and use the bow and arrow adroitly. No one knows that
country as well as I do, for I was a prisoner there from the
age of thirteen to thirty years, and I speak four of the
languages of its people. There is only the language of the
Ais and Jeaga which I am not acquainted with, because I
have never lived among them.

The AbolacM* are a powerful nation, rich in pearls; but

* " The early French and Spanish writers vary m the orthography of this
name. The old Spanish writers write it Abolache, Apalache, Appallatcy : the
French, Apalaches. COXE drops the A and writes it Palache, Palatcy, etc
Apaliche in the Tamanaca dialect signifies man. They weie a most united,

LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA. 257

they have no gold, except what is brought from the mines of
Onagatano, situated in the Snowy Mountains of Onagatano,
the farthest of the Abolachi possessions, and still farther,
from the nations of Olacatano, Olagale, Hogose, and Canoga-
cole. The last are said to be a numerous and warlike people,
who go entirely naked, excepting a few who wear dressed
skins. They are artists, and can paint everything they see.
They are called Canogacole, which means " wicked people"
and are adroit in drawing the bow. The Spaniards could
only conquer them with their superior arms, such as cross-
bows, muskets, bucklers, large and strong swords, good
horses, and escanpils.* They only speak their native lan-
guages, are an honorable and faithful people, and not like
the Biscayan who wanted to sell MENENDEZ to the Indians,

bold, and valorous race, and much more civilized than the adjacent tribes
When DE SOTO arrived m their country he found their fields cultivated, berr-
ing plentiful crops of corn, beans, pumpkins, and fruit of all kinds , having good
store of gold, silver, and pearls, which they collected from the loft\ mountains of
Onagatano (Georgia), abounding in precious metals Their country was divided
into six provinces, interspersed with towns and villages, and lived in houses
built of oval shape, plastered with mud, and thatched with reeds and straw.
The women manufactured their own clothing from wild hemp and the inner
bark of the mulberry tree, lined with skins. Their priests ofiered up daily morn-
ing prayers to the glorious sun , arid were regarded as more civilized than the
Carlos, Tegesta, A is, and other tribes of Florida. In the beginning of the
eighteenth century they were almost destroyed by other tribes, and driven
across the Mississippi. By tradition they came originally from Northern
Mexico." See Bnntods Florida j Historical Collections of Louisiana^ vol. 2,
p. 261.

* A sort of armor made of cotton, which the ancient Mexicans used to pro-
tect themselves from the arrows of the natives in time of war.

258 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

and had not a mulatto and I prevented him, by exposing his
treachery, we should have all been put to death; and PEDRO
MENENDEZ, instead of dying at Santander, would have
perished In Florida. If he had conducted himself as I did,
and as he ought to have done, the Indians would to-day
have been the obedient subjects of our powerful King,
Pl-lILIP II., whom I pray the Lord will protect for many
years to come.

I have elsewhere said that this chief was sovereign of the
" River of Reeds " where the pearls and the mines of lapis-
lazuli are found ; but farther on, the village of Olagale is
subject to him, where also gold is found.

A Biscayan named Don PEDRO, whom his Majesty had
deigned to name Guardian of the Swans, was a prisoner in
this country, and had he shown a courage proportionate to
the favors which he had received from his Majesty, the
Indians of Ais, Guacata, and of Jeaga would ,long ago have
submitted, and many of them would already have been
Christians. He spoke perfectly the language of Ais, and
all those I have mentioned above ; and also that which
is spoken ,at Mayaca, and Mayajuaca, on the other side
.towards the north. PEDRO MENENDEZ ordered him to be
liung on account of the calumnious accusation brought
against him and his companion, DOMINGO RUIZ. I think
he was frightened, and, after returning to Spain, he drew
up his report about Florida. He did not desire to go
there, but finally decided to do so, to get his son out of
the hands -of the Indians, who had heaped cruel treatment

I5 6 5<3 LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA. 259

upon him. As for ourselves, ue have never to this day
received any pay, or obtained any promotion, and returned
with our health so impaired, that we have gained but little
by going to Florida.

The country of the kings of Ais* and of jeaga is very
poor. It contains neither gold nor silver mines, and, to tell
the truth, it is only the sea which enriches it, since many
vessels laden with precious metals are shipwrecked there ;
such as the Far/an, and the Hawker. On board of the
latter wa ANTON GRANADO and Captain JUAN CHRIS-
TOBAL, whom the natives made slaves; and killed Don
MARTIN DE GUZMAN, Captain HERNANDO DE ANDINO,
and JUAN ORVIS. On board of this ship were the two
sons of ALONSO DE MESA and their imcle. They were
all rich, and I the poorest among them, yet I had
twenty-five pesos of fine gold. My father (who was a com-
mander) and my mother, had both served his Majesty
in Peru, and subsequently in Cartkagena, where they estab-
lished a colony. I, as well as one of my brothers, was born
there. They were sending us to Spain to be educated when
we were shipwrecked on the Florida coast ,\ as well as the
fleet from New Spain, commanded by the son of Don
PEDRO MENENDEZ (Adelantado of Florida).

* The kings and chiefs of Florida took their title, or public name, from the
place or territory they governed.

260

HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

[1565.

CHAPTER III.

AFTERWARDS talked with a Span-
iard whom the Indians had kept in a
starving condition. He told me that he
came from Nicaragua, in one of the
Mexican vessels bound for Spain,
which was commanded by an Asturian,
a son of Don PEDRO MELENDEZ. That he was only a
sailor on one of the shipwrecked vessels of the fleet, and
ignorant of the fate of the rest until after he had talked
with the Indians who went armed to the coast of Ais and re-
turned with very considerable riches, in the form of ingots of
gold, sacks of Spanish coins, and quantities of merchandise.
As this man had been a prisoner there only for a short time,
and knew nothing of the Indian languages, and as JUAN
RODRIGUEZ knew them well, we served as interpreters for
him and others. It was a great consolation for those
who were afterwards shipwrecked there, to find some
Christians who could aid them in their misfortunes, and
help them to make themselves understood by the na-
tives; for, when the Indians captured them and com-

1 5^5-1 LO VIST AX A AXD FLORIDA, 26 1

manded them to dance and sing, and they would not ; and as
the Indians of Florida are cruel as well as ill-natured, they
thought the Christians refused from obstinacy, and did not
wish to comply with their request ; so they massacred them on
the spot, and reported to the chief that they had killed them
because they were rogues and rebels, and refused to obey.

One day when a negro, two Spaniards, and I were speaking
to the chief, in presence,of the great men of his court, about
what I have just stated, the chief said I was the most
deceitful of them all. lt ESCAIANTE," said he, 4< tell me the
truth, for you know I am a great lover of it ; why, when
we commanded your countrymen to dance or sing, or do
anything, they were obstinate and refused to obey. Is it
because they are indifferent to death, or because they did
not wish to obey the enemies of their religion? Answer
me, and, if you do not know, ask those new prisoners who
are slaves by their own misfortune. Formerly we took them
for gods descended from the heavens." I answered, u My
lord, as I understand the matter, they are not rebelious, nor
do they refuse from any motive of ill-will, but do not com-
prehend your wishes. They would only need to under-
stand your language to perform their duty." The chief
replied that this was untrue, as he often gave them com-
mands which they sometimes obeyed, and sometimes did
not, although they were repeated over and over. " Notwith-
standing that, my lord," I replied, " they do not act thus
from disobedience, but because they really do not under-
stand you. I wish your lordship would speak to them in

262 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF [l5 6 5-

presence of this negro and me/* The chief began to laugh,
and said to them, " Se-le-te-ga ! '" They then asked what
the chief said, and the negro, who stood near them, laughed
and said to the chief, " Sire, what ESCALANTE has told you
is true, they do not understand you/' Then the chief, having
perceived that I had told him the truth, said, " ESCALANTE,
now I believe you." I then explained to them what
Se-le-te-ga meant, which is, to go anji see if there is any one
on the look-out; if any one is coming hither. The in-
habitants of Florida always abbreviate their words much
more than we do in speaking.

The chief, having perceived the true state of things, told
his subjects that when they made prisoners of shipwrecked
Christians hereafter, they must give them no orders without
his knowledge, so that he might send them a person who
understood their language.

I will say no more now on this subject, but proceed to
speak of the wealth which the Indians found in bars of gold
and Mexican jewelry belonging to the shipwrecked passen-
gers, amounting to more than a million. The chief retained
the best part of it for himself, and divided the remainder
among the Indians of Ais, of Jaega, of Guacata, of Maya-
juaca, and of Mayaca. Most of the vessels or caravels,
as I stated before, which had been shipwrecked there were
from Cuba and Honduras, and going in search of the river
Jordan^ which explains how the Indians of A is, of Jaega, and
the Guardgumve Islands became so enriched by the sea and
not by the land.

LOUISIANA AXD FLORIDA 263

From Tocohaga to St* Helena there are about six hundred
leagues of coast. This country produces neither gold nor
silver, nor are any metals found except those which accident
brings to Florida from over the sea. I do not need to say
that it is a habitable country, since we know the Indians
live there, raise flocks and herds of animals, and cultivate
the land. I cannot positively say that sugar can be made
there. I know they planted cane and it grew, but I did not
remain long enough to see the result. The inhabitants of
all the provinces which I have named, from Tocobaga to St.
Helena, are much given to fishing, and are always to be had.
They are very adroit at drawing the bow, and also very
treacherous, and I am convinced they can never be made
submissive and become Christians. I am willing to sign my
name to this statement, as a thing of which I am positively
certain ; and I give it as my opinion, that if it is not
followed, matters will grow worse and worse. They should
all be taken^ men and women, after terms of peace have been
offered them, placed on ships, and scattered throughout the
various islands, and even on the Spanish main, where t/iey
might be sold as his Majesty sells his vessels to the grandees
in Spain. By such clever means tJuy might become civilized^
and Spaniards established here. These latter could then
form settlements, raise cattle, and give assistance to numbers
of vessels which are lost on the coast of the province of Sa-
tori v a, at or near St, Augustine, San Matheo (St. John's)^
where the French Lutherans established a fort for the pur-
pose of plundering all vessels that arrive from tfie mainland.

264 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF

whether from Mexico, Pent, or any other country. They have
already done this thing, and taken refuge on the San Matheo
river, where dwell in villages the perfidious chiefs, SATORIVA,
ALIMACANY.

On the banks of the San Matheo (St. John's), sixty
leagues further inland, reside other independent chiefs, CAR-
DECHA, ENCAPPE, UTINA, SARANAY, and MOLOA, who
govern other villages reaching as far as Mayajuaca, in the
Ais country, near the district planted with reeds, which our
guides said was the place where Don PEDRO DE MENENDEZ
made terms of peace with them. They possess, however,
neither gold, silver, nor pearls, and are great rascals and
beggars. They use bows and arrows, and, like those before
described, wear no clothing. In ascending the river San
Matheo, one can go as far as Tocobaga on the west side of
Florida, but I do not advise any one to go so far as this
river. After having passed the bar of the river, one might
go on as far as Agacay, which is fifty or sixty leagues from
the coast, or even as far as Utina, where he could disembark
and proceed from village to village until, arriving at Cano-
gacola, the inhabitants of which are subjects of TOCO-BAGA.
Thence he could go on to the very farthest known point,
situated on another great river (Mississippi), whither DE
SOTO went, and where he died. And now I shall say no

more, for if there were any question of making a conquest of

this country, I could not furnish any more details than those
I have already given. T/ie conquest of this country would be
advantageous to his Majesty for tfie security of his fleets going

1 S 6 S-'] LOUISIANA AND FLORIDA. 26$

to Peru, New Spain, and ports of the West India Islands.
These fleets must necessarily pass through the Bahama
Channel, and close to this coast, where many people are ship-
wrecked and lose their lives, because the Indians are our
enemies, and handle the bow skillfully. It would, therefore,
be well to have a small fort erected to protect the channel.
To support this fort, and pay the soldiers who should garri-
son it, a fund might be established by levying taxes on Peru,
Mexico, Cuba, and other parts of the Indies. This is all that
can be done, unless pearl-fishing is engaged in, as pearls are
the only treasures the country offers. With this expression
of opinion, I close my description of Florida and herewith
subscribe my name to it.

HERNANDO D'ESCALANTE FONTANEDO.

LA REPRINSE DE LA FLORIDE,

PAR LE CAPPITAINE GOURGUE.

INTRODUCTION.

T was not until after the overthrow and expulsion of the French Prot-
estants (Huguenots) from Florida, in 1565, that the Catholics no
less than the Protestants of Europe felt how atrocious it was to put
to death hundreds of innocent persons, in time of peace, which the
laws of nations as well as humanity should have protected. Such conduct would
not, however, have been ventured upon hy the Spaniards towards France,
but for the strength of the Catholic party and their hostility to the Protestants

266 LA REPRINSE DE LA JFLOR1DE. [1568.

of France and of the Netherlands who wished at that time to pi event the
establishment of the Inquisition among them

In vain had Captain RIBAULT and his shipwrecked companions urged upon
the Captain-General (MENENDEZ) that the kings of France and Spam were
not only at peace but in alliance. The plaint of humanity was stifled m the
interests of the Roman Catholic religion, as the kings of Fiance and Spam
were then preparing for the bloody tragedy of St Bartholomew's Day, which was
to crush out Piotestant heresy. For several years this hoirible tempest devastated
the finest provinces of Fiance. There was still, however, a chivahous feeling left
which showed itself supenor to the exactions of sect or party, and brooded over
with intensity the cold-blooded massacre of the French colony in Flonda ; and
the avenger arose in due season, to satisfy the demands of justice.

It \\as at this period that Chevalier DOMINIQUE DE GOURGUE, a letired
officer in Guyenne, who had served with distinction in the wars of Fiance, heaid
of the news of the massacre of the French colony , and aftei the King had
neglected to punish the brutal conduct of the Spaniaids, he undertook to carry
out his singular and chivalrous enterpiise to punish the Spaniards and lepair
the honor of France He secretly fitted out an expedition of three small ships
and one hundred and fifty soldiers, with funds furnished by himself and
fnends, and sailed for Florida in 1567, where he arrived, but not without
detention from storms, in 1568 ; and so entirely were the Spaniards xinsuspi-
cious of an attack, that he passed their forts on the liver May, and was saluted
by them. He sailed on fifteen leagues further to the north, to the Altamaha or
St. Mary's river, where he landed his troops and called together the Indian
chiefs and warriors of that country ; and with their aid, he successfully carried
out his plans of capturing the Spanish forts on the river May (now St. Johns),
manned by three hundred men or more, and hung all the men who did not
escape (or were not killed) to the same trees on which the Spanish Goveinor
MENENDEZ, three years before, had hung the French colonists ; and sailed back
to France, where he arnved on the day of Pentecost, 1568, and was received
with great applause. The Spanish minister on hearing of his anival, offered a
reward for his head, but he found an asylum among his numerous fnends, and
lived for many years in obscurity. At length he was tendered by Don ANTONIO
the command of his fleet to defend his right to the crown of Portugal against
PHILIP THE SECOND, which he promptly accepted ; but on his way to join the
Portuguese prince, he died at Tours of a sudden illness. The French nation
mourned his loss; and still hold in high respect the memory of one of the
bravest men that ever graced her annals.

LA REPRINSE DE LA FLORIDE,

PAR LE CAPPITAIXE GOURGUE^*

JNTRE plusieurs smgulantez incongneues atlx siecle* passes q 4 ie
Bieu 3. icservees pour les hommes de ce temps, la plus admirable
a mon advis est une quatreiestne partie de la terre desccmverte
depuis quatre-vingts ans anssi grande ou plus que les trols> ja
congneus et descntes par les anciens, et une infinite de belles isles qui t>ont
autour de ceste nouvelle terre, dont nous sont advenuz infinies ccmmoditez : et
entre autres ceste-cy, que les hommes studieux n'estimeiont la moindre.
Que la ge'ografie aupaiavant manque de moitie, par ce moien h'a mamtenant
receu son accomplissement et perfection . et lliistoire naturele des animaux, des
plantes, de la pierrerie, et des metaulx en a este de beaucoup angmemtee. Plu-
sieurs belles choses que les anciens avoient plustost conclues par ratiolination.
que congneues par experience, en ont este conferences, comme qu*il y a deh
antipodes ; et ce qu f a peine eust-on ose esperer qn'on pcult y aller et venir.
negotier, traffiquer et coutracter avec eulx. Beaucoup d'erreurs in\e'terees en
ont aussi este convamcues, comme que la terre entre les deux tropiques fust

*- There are tvtro MS narratives entitled "La Reprinst dc la
preserved in the Bibliotheque Imperiale, Paris. "With tnfling variations, the
above narrative is identical with the DE GOURGUE MS. in the possession of
VICOMTE DE GOURGUE'S family.

268 APPENDIX.

inhabitable, sterile et biuslee* ou elle s'est tiouvee tres peuplee et plus fertile
et temperee qu'elle n'est es regions mesmes que jusques icy ont eu la reputation
et le nom de temperees.

C'este descouverte aiant este faicte par Chnstofle Colomb genevois en Tan
mil quatre cens quatre-vmgts et douze, les piinces qui pour lors en furent les
premiers advertiz et qui en estoient les plus pres, envoierent tout aussi tost
chacun en son endroict pour s'emparer de ce pays le plus qu'ils pourroient, et
jouir seulz ou les piemieis des grandes richesses dont on leur avoit foict lapport,
lesquelles ont depuis surmonte leur expectation et celle de tous les hommes.
Mais ce pays estant si grand comma nous avons dit tout ce qu'ls ont peu fane
c'a este d'en a\oir une grande partie, et descouvnr les meilleurs endroictz pour
s'y arrester, et y peupler Et apres en avoir occupe aultant qu'ils ont peu, il est
restedu pais encoies plus que tous les princes de 1'Europe n'en pouiroient tenir.
En ce pais vuide et non occupe par eulx estoit la Flonde Au commencement
du regne du roi Charles IX. & piesent regnant que les Fra^ois y alleient et en
prinrent possession pour le Roy y e'ngeant deux collonnes de pierre avec ]a
devise de sa majeste. Et y aians basti ung fort sur la nviere de May pres de la
mer, et s'y estans accomodez de maisons pour le nombre qu'ils estoient, y com-
manderent au gre mesniPs des Indiens jusques en Tan mil cinq cens soixante-
quatre, que les Espaignols jaloux de ce que les Francois voulloient part en ce
nouveau monde, se delibererent d'executer sur eulx en trahison ce qu'ils n'espe-
roient pouvoir faire en gens de bien. Et sous coulleur de la paix et alliance
qui estoit entre les'rois ties chrestien et cathohque, estans descenduz &. la coste
de la Flonde avec grand nombie de navires au mois de septembie dudit an
1564, demandent & parler au cappitaine Jehan Ribault, lieutenant du loy, et
nouvellement amve en ce pais de la Flonde avec puissance et commission de sa
majeste, lequel estant venu a eulx a la bonne foy est massacre par eulx tiaitre-
usement et cruel] ement avec toute sa compaignie, puis ces tiaistres et meurtners
vont vistement trouvei les autres Francois qui estoient au tour du fort en peu de
nombre, ne se doubtans d'aucune tiahison, et les tuent, entient dans le fort et
s'en emparent, et quand ils ne trouvent plus d'hommes se jectent sur les pauvres
femmes, et apres avoir par force et violence abuse de la pluspait, les assoment
toutes et couppent la gorge aux petits enfans mdifferamment. Or, il faut noter
que quant ils se veirent au dessus des Fra^ois, ils en prinrent en vie le plus
qu'ils peurent, et les aiant gardez trois jours sans leur rien donner k manger et
les aiant faict endurer tous les tourmens et toutes les mocqueries dont ils
se peurent advi^ ils les pendireut a des arbres qui estoient aupres du fort.
Mesmes ils escorcherent le lieutenant du roy, et en envoierent la peau au roy

APPENDIX. 269

d'Espaigne, arracherent les yeulx qu'ils a^ient meaitns, el !es dait fcjliez a la
pomcte de leurs dagues faisoient entre eulx a qui plus lo.ng les jetteroir.

Les nouvelles de ce ciuel massacre estans apportees en France, les Fmngcit
fureni merveilleusernent oultrez d'une si lasche iraliison et d'une s: detestable
cruaulte , et prmcipalement quant ils entendirent que les tra.ttre- et meuriners
en heu d'estre blasmez et punis en Espaigne, y estoient loaez et hormorez des
plus grands estats et honneurs Tons les Francois s'attendoient qj'aue teile
injure faicte au roy et a toute la nation franchise seroit bien-tost vengce par
authoiite'publique* mais ceste attente les aiant frustrez Tespace de trois ans, ils
souhaictoient qu'il se trouvast quelque particulier qui enterpnst -an acte si neces-
saire pour le honneui et reputation de la France. II n'y avoit cehiy qui n'eust
bien voulu avoir la louange d'avoir parache\e nne telle entrepnse, mais il y
avoit tant de difficultez et si grandes que Tamertume d'icelles degou^toit un cha-
cun de la doulceur de ceste louange; la chose ne se pouvoit faire sans une
grande despence, tant pour la construction et equipage des na\ ires, que poui les
armes, vivres et paiement des hommes de guerre et mannieis qu il y falloit , pen
de gens peuvent, moins encores veulient faire de si grands fraiz ; davantage
1'evenement pour infinies considerations en estoit foit incertain, hazardeax et
peril leux, et qui pis est, on ne voioit pomct que ceste entrepnse estant mesmes
conduicte et executee sagement et heureusement peust estre exempte de quelque
calomnie. Ainsi il estoit fort difficile de trouver qui voulast racheter ceste
calomnie avec la perte de ses biens, et avec une infinite d'aultres incommoditez
et penis. Touttefois le cappitaine Gourgue gentilhomrae ga^con, incite du zele
qu'il a tousjours eu au service de son roy, oil il s'est contmuelement employe des
son jeune aage tant en France qu'en Ecosse, Piemont et Italic, selon que les
affaires se sont presentez soit par mer ou par terre, fermant les yeulx a toutes
ces difEcultez qu'il prevoioit bien, entreprit d ? executer ceste si juste vengeance,
ou de mounr a la poursuicte.

Le cappitaine Gourgue doncq au commencement de Tannee mil cincq cens
soixante sept voiant que son service n'estoit requis de par deca le royaulme
estant paisible dedans et dehors, et n'y aiant encores aucnne apparence des
guerres civiles qui se renouvellerent neuf mois apres, resolut d'aHer a la Flonde,
tenter s'll pourroit venger Vinjure faicte au roy et a toute la France. Et encores
qu'il commencast a faire ses preparatifz des le commencement de Tannee, toutes-
fois il ne fut prest a partir jusques au mois d'aoust Cestoit une execution qui
ne consistoit pas settlement en vertu et experience, mais (comme nous avons
dit) elle requeroit aussi une grande despence, a ^iquelle le revenu d'un simple
gentilhomme ne pouvoit suffire, et de lay moins que de tout autre, qni toute sa

270 APPENDIX.

vie s'est estudie plus 4 acqueiir honneur et reputation qu'4 amasser des biens de
fortune Par quoy se trouvant court de ce coste-li il vent son bien et em-
pruncte de ses amis tant pour fane bastir, aimer et e'quipper deux petltes navires
en foime de roberge et une patache en fa9on de fiegatte de Levant, qui i faulte
de vent peussent voguer a rame, et feussent propres pour en tier en la bouche
des grandes rivieres, qu'aussi pour achapter la provision d'une annee de vivres et
autres choses necessaires pour les homines de guerre et mannieis qu'il enten-
doit mener. Et aiant faict touteb ces choses et bien pourveu k. tout, il s'embar-
qua a Bourdeaux le second join d'aoust, avec peimission de monsieur de
Montluc lieutenant pour le roy en Guyenne (touteffois son conge ne faisoit
mention d'aller i la Flonde, mais d'aller i la coste du Benin en Afiique faire la
guerre aux negres), et descend le long de la riviere a Royan & vmgt heues de
Bourdeaux, ou il fait sa monstre, tant de soldats que de marmieis. II y avoit
cent harquebouziers aians tous harquebouze de calibre et morrion en teste, dont
plusieurs estoient gentishommes, et quatre vmgtz inariniers qui au besomg
scavoient bien faire 1'office de soldats, aussi avoit-il des aimes propres poui eulx
comme arbalestre, picques et toutes soite de long bois. Apres la monstie faicte,
le cappitaine Gourgue donne le rendezvous accoustume en telles expeditions.
Mais ainsi qu'il estoit prest 4 partii, se leve ung vent contraire qui le contiainct
de sejourner huict jours a Rojan, ce vent estant ung peu remis il se meit sur
mer pour faire voille , mais bien-tost apres il fut repousse vers la Rochelle, et ne
pouvant mesmes estie a 1'a radde de la Rochelle pour la violance du temps, il
fut contnunct de se retner la bouche de la Charente et sejourner li huict
jours a quoy il avoit grand regret pour les vivres qui se consomment, et pour la
craincte qu'il avoit que ses gens ne prinsent ce retardement pour ung mauvais
presaige, et n'en peidissent 1'allegresse qu'il y avoit trouvee du commencement.
Le vmgt-deuxiesme jour d'aoust, le vent estant cesse. et le ciel donnant appa-
rence d'un plus doulx temps pour 1'advenir, il se remect sur mer et faict voille,
le temps ne luy est gueres propice, et avec grande difficulte il parvient au cap de
Finibus-Terrse, ou de rechef il fut assailly du vent ouest, qui souffla par Tespace
de huict jours pendant lesquels il fut en grand danger de naufraige, et en toutes
les peinesdu monde pour ses gens qui le pneient instamment de s'en retourner.
La navire ou estoit son lieutenant s'esgara et ne peust-on S9avoir de qumze jours
si elle estoit sauve ou pene A la parfin elle se rendit au lieu du rendezvous,
qui estoit en la riviere de Lor en Barbaric, ou le cappitaine Gourgue Tattendoit :
lequel faict icy reposer et rafraischir ses gens si travaillez et recreuz qu'ils n'en
ponvoient plus, il les console et conforte par tous les moiens dont il se pouvoit
adviser , et quant il les a bien remis et r^asseurez, il faict lever les ancres, et

APPENDIX 271

costoiant une partie de I'Afrique recongnoit le pais en passant, po'-r y pou\oir
mieux faire service i sa majeste, si la commodite se presentoit cuelquefois. El
comme il sejournoit au cap Blanc pour fane peu a peu accoust'imer l'a:r a ses
gens, et par ce moien les entretenir en sante, trois io\s de neg'-es les -\iennei: t
assailhr suscitez par les Portugois qui ont ung chasteau a dix lieues de la, n'osans
y venir eulx-mesmes Ces negres sont si bien receuz par deux fois qj :Is n'y
veullent retoumer pour la troisieme, et abandonment le port au cappitaine
Gourgue lequel touteffois bien-tost apres pamt de la et costoiart encore
FAffnque vint surgir au cap Vert ; de la prenant la routte des Indes il singla en
hautte mer ; et aiant traverse la mer de Nort, la premiere terre oh il aborda fut
une isle appellee la Dominicque habitee de sauvaiges seulement, oil il demeura
huict jours pour les bonnes eaues qui s'y trouvoient* Apres lequel temps pour-
suivant ses erres il vint a une autre isle qu'on appelle Sainct-Germam de Porte-
ricque, que les Espaignols tiennent oil ils tiou\erent d'une sorte de figues fort
grosses et longues qui naissent es buissons, elles sont vertes et espmeuses par
dehois et rouges au dedans comme escarlatte. Ils en mangerent sous Tassenr-
ance d'un qui avoit este 4 la Floride du temps que leb Fran9ois y commandoient
que le cappitame Gourgue menoit avec soy pour luy servir de trompette et de
tnichement, elles sont ung peu aigrettes, au reste de fort bon goust^ et de^alte-
rent fort. Mais quant on en a mange une demie douzame elles font unner a
force et rendent Teaue louge comme leur dedans est rouge. Nos gens pensoient
faire du sang et estre morts, et crioient contre le trompette qui se noit d'eulx, et
comme on se vouloit ruer sur luy, il les asseura qu'il n'y avoit aucun danger, et que
c'estoit le naturel de ce fruict de colorer ainsi Tunne sans faire aucun mal n'y
agporter aucun dommage. Partans de la, ils vinrent a la Monne, isle non habi-
tee que de souvaiges, fort fertile et plantureuse, ou entre autres fruicts on trouva
des plus beaulx et meilleurs oranges, citronSj et melons qu'on eust jamais mange,
et d'une sorte de figues longues de demy-pied en forme de cocombres atans la
peau verte et le dedans jaulne fort bonnes a manger qu'on appelle platanes a la
mode du pais. On y use aussi d'une espece de racine semblable a des na\eaux,
laquelle cuitte a 1'eaue ou &ur la breze h'a le goust de chastaignes cuittes, les
gens du pais rappellent patattes. I,es habitans y sont bonnes gens et fort sim-
ples, leur roy vmt veoir les navires du cappitaine Gourgue et y passa deux
nuicts : puis le mena en terre veoir ses jardins, et sa maison faicte en forme de
caverne et sa fontaine qu'il appelloit paradis, dans ung creux de rocher fort pro-
fond, ou 1'on descendoit par degrez, et disoit que 1'eaue de ceste fontaine gneris-
soit des fiebvres. Au partir de ceste ysle, le roy donna une grande quantite de
fruictz au cappitaine Gourgue, en recompence de quelque toile pour faire des

19

2/2 APPENDIX.

chemises que le cappitaine Gourgue luy avoit donnee, dont ils n'ont 1'usaige pai
dela,

Au partir de la, il alia costoiei la terre ferme veis le cap de la Belle, pom
tousjours descouvnr pais, dont le vent contraue les repoulsa, et les jetta k 1'isle
Espaignolle autrement appellee St. Dominique, que est poui le jouid'huy habi'
tee des Espaignols seulement, apres qu'ils ont faict mounr tou<? les Indiens
naturels qu'ils y avoient trouvez, qui estoient plus d'un million , cai, ou ils les
ont tuez avec le cousteau, ou, pour le contmuel travail qu'ils leur faisoient
prandre, es mines d'oi et d'argent sans leur donner aucun lelasche, et pom
infiniz autres mauvais traictemens, ils les ont coiitiamcts de se" deffaire eulx-
mesmes de leurs mams propres, ou de s'empoisonnei, ou de se laissei mounr de
faim, sans vouloir rien manger , et mesmes les pauvres femmes indiennes ont
este reduites jusques i poulcer leur fruict hors de leur ventie avant le temps
pour r'acheter par cemoien leurs enfans de la seivitude des Espaignols-mesmes ,
et ne les laissei venir en une vie pire que la mort

Chose incioiable si les Espaignols-mesmes n'avoient escut tout cecy de point
en point en leurs histoires Voila comment ils ont conveiti les Tndiens a la foj
chrestienne dont ils se vantent et totiteffois ces pauvies Indiens estoient si
docilles avant qu'avoii expenniente la ciuault6 des Espaignols, lorsque Chnsto-
phle Colomb y alia la premiere fois, que seullement i veoir fane les chrestiens,
Us se mettoiant & genoulx d"eulx-m ernes, adoroient la croix, se fiappoient la
poictrine et faisoient tous actes devotion qu'ils voioient faiie aux chrestiens,
ausquels oultre tout cela ils seivoient avec une promptitude incroyable, de quoy
aussy rendent tesmoignage les Espaignols-mesmes en leurs histones En ceste
isle done ainsi tenue par les Espaignols, il n'estoit pas peimis au cappitaine
Gourgue prandre seulement de Teau s*il ne 1'avoit par foice, lequel se trouva la
en ties grand dangier estant la mer agittee de tourmente homblement et la
terre luy estant encores plus ennemie, car les Espaignols eniagent tout aussitost
qu'ils veoient un Francois aux Indes, et encores que cent Espaignes ne pourroi-
ent fournir assez d'hommes pour tenir la centiesme partie d'une terre si large et
espacieuse ; neantmoings il est advis aux Espaignols que ce nouveau monde ne
fut jamais cre^ que pour eulx, et qu*il n'appartient a homme vivant d'y marchei
ou d'y respirer smon a eulx seuls . toutteffois le cappitaine Gourgue contiainct,
s'arresta 14 attendant que la mer fust appaisee, s'asseurant qu'il se defFendroit
plus aisement des Espaignols que des vents et de la tempeste. Autour de ceste
isle et d'autres prochaines ils tiouvoient des tortues si grandes que la chaii
d'une sufEsoit i plus de soixante personnes pour ung repas, et la coquille pour-
roit servir de targe au plus grand homme qui soit, qui au reste est si dure qu'a

APPENDIX 273

bien giand peine une pistolle la pourroit percer Ces tcrtues demeureizt le ,0-1
en la mer, et la nuict paissent en terre, et font leurs ceafz en ur.e fosse dedans le
sablon mille ou douze cents chacune aussi bons a manger qu'oeufz de poulie, \\
en fut prise une entie autres, qui aiant quatre soldats sur soy ne laissoir poartant
a chemyner.

La mei estant de\enue calme, le cappitaine Gourgue part de la, et \a s^rgi
aucap de Samct-Nicolas, ou il feit calfeutrer a na\ire que la tempeste c.\uit
ouvei te, dont luy advmt la perte de tout le pain qui estoit dedans pour ce qi. n
s'estoit mouille, et peu s'en fallut que tout le reste qui estoit en ceste navire ne
fust peidu, et la navire-mesme. Mais elle arm a tout a temps au cap c"e Sairt
Nicolas, ou elle fut si bien repare'e que oncques dupuis n'en ad^vint faulte
Ceste perte de pain fut au cappitaine Gourgue et a sa compagme ung dommage
inestimable, car il fallut retrancher les vivres de mouie, et celuy qai auparavant
mangeoit deux biscuits le jour n'en prenoit qu'ung. Et les isles par ou il falloit
passer apres estoient tenues par les Espaignols, comme 1 isle de Coube qu'iK
trouveient la premiere estans partiz du cap de Sainct-Nicolas, en la qaelle le*
Espaignolz ne voulurent jamais bailler des vivres pour des toiles de Rouen, nj
pour autres choses qu'a ceste fin le cappitaine Gourgue avoit portees au cas que
sa piovision luy deffailhst. Us ne \ouloient pas seulement permettre qu'on pnnt
de Teau , mais on en pienoit malgre eulx. Environ ceste isle se leva ung vent
le plus violent et impetuieux qu*ils eussent pomct encores eu; mais il ne dura
que six heures Que s'il eust este de plus longue duree, c'estoir faict d'eulx ,
cai il les gectoit a la coste ; ou leurs navires s'alloient perdre, et eulx ^uant et
quant

Le cap de Sainct-Anthome est au bout de 1'isle de <"oube ou ils vmdrent
surgir bien-tost apres que la tempeste fut passee, loing ae la Floride environ
deux cents lieues de mer. Icy le cappitaine Gourgue aiant assemble tons se;>
gens, leur declare ce qu'il leur avoit teu jusques-la, comment il avoit entrepris
ce voiage pour aller a la Floride vanger sur les Espaignols rinjure qu'ils avoient
faicte au roy et 4 toute la France, s'excuse de ce quM ne leur a communique son
enterprise plustost leur ouvre les moiens par lesquek il esperoit vemr au bout
de son desseing ; les enhorte et pne de les suivre d'ausssi bon cueur comme il h'a
espere d'eulx lors quM les a choisiz d'entre plusieurs, comine les plus propres a
une telle execution. II leur met au devant ia trahison et la cniaulte de ceuK
qui avoient massacre les Fran9ois, et la honte que c'estoit d'avoir si longtemp&
laisse impuny ung acte si meschant et malheureux. II leur propose llionneur et
raise qui leur reviendra d'un si bel acte, biefii les amme si bien qu'encores
que du commencement ils trouvassent la chose presque impossible pour le pen

274 APPENDIX.

de gens qu'ils estoient, et poui estre ceste coste des plus dangereuses qui soient
en toutes les Indes , neantmomgs ils promisient ne Tabandonner pomct, et de
mourir avec luy, mesme les gens de guerre devmdient si aidens qu'a peme pou-
voient-ils attendre la pleme lune pour passer le canal de Bahame qui est fort
dangereux et les pillotes et manniers qui estoient froids du commencement
furent bien tost eschauffez par ceste aideur des soldats La lune done estant
pleine, ils entrent au canal de Bahame, et bien-tost apies ils descouvrent la
Flonde.

Quand les Espaignols qui estoient au fort veoient les navires du cappitame
Gouigue, ils les saluent de deux coups de canon pensant que ce feussent des
Espaignols. Le cappitame Gourgue, poui les entretenn en ceste erreur leur
respond de mesmes, et faisant semblant d'aller ailleurs passa oultre jusques a ce
que la nuict fust venue, et qu'il eust peidu la Flonde de veue. Quant la nmct
est venue il tourneu voille, et vient descendre 4 quinze heues du fort oil les
Espaignols ne pouvoient rien descouvnr, devant une nvieie que les sauvaiges
appellent Tacatacotu ou, qui est aussi le com du 107 de ce pais, les Fianjois luy
avoient donne le nom de Seine pour ce qu'elle ressemble a iiostre Seme.

Aussy-tost que le jour est venu, le cappitaine Gouigue estant a la ladde,
veok, que la rive de la raer est toute boide'e de sauvaiges armez de leurs ares et
flesches poui 1'empeschei de prandre terre pensant qu'il fust Espaignol. Le
cappitame Gourgue qui avoit bien pie'veu ceci en son esprit, avoit aussi advise
<le faire en sorte qu'il ne fust point empesche ains aide par eulx, et pourtant il
faict tous signes d'amitie, et envoie vers eulx son trompette qui leur estoit bien
<xngneu, et scavoit bien parler leur langage pour avoir converse avec eulx
lorsque les Francois y estoient et qu'ils y bastirent le fort Tout aussi-tost qu'ils
eurent recongneu le trompette, ils commencerent a danser qui est ung signe oidi-
naire de joye entre eulx, et luy demanderent pourquoy il avoit tant tarde k. re-
tourner vers eulx II respond qu'il n'avoit teim i luy qu'il ne fust retourne plus-
tost , mais je n'eusse perevenir en seurete (dist-il) jusques a piesent que voicy
des Frangois qui sont venuz ici pour renouveller leur amities avecques vous et
vous apportent des choses de la France qui vous sont les plus necessaires, et que
vons aymez le mieulx. Ils commencerent a danser plus que devant et leur
plus grand roi nomme' Satiroua envoia avec le tiompette ung de ses gens vers le
cappitaine Gourgue, pour luy offnr ung chevreuil, et s'enguester plus avant de
Toccasion de sa venue. Le cappitaine Gourgue respond a celuy qui luy avoit
este envoie, qu'il remerciast le roy Satiroua et 1'asseurast que ce que le trompette
luy avoit dit estoit vray, qn'il n'estoit la venu que pour i'associer avec luy et
avec les autres roys, et leur donner des belles choses qui se faisoient en France

APPENDIX. 275

dont ils avoient faulte par dela. II ne vouloit rien dire de son enterprise plus
avant, jusques & ce qu'il eust veu qu'il n'y eust aucun Espaignol parmy euix, et
sonde le cueur des sauvaiges, et advise comme le tout alloit, Les sauvaiges
apres avoir ouy ceste responce se prennent k danser plus que par avant. Et
quelque temps apres renovoierent au cappitaine Gourgue, pour luy dire qu'ils
s'en alloient advertir tous les rois, parens et alhez du roy Satiroua, qu'ils eussent
a enlx trouver le lendemain en ce lieu pour s'associer avecques les Franois ; &
quoy ils ne fervient faulte, et ainsi s'en allerent pour ce jour la. Or pendant
toutes ces allees et venues,, le cappitaine jGourgue avoit envoie son pilote pour
sender Tentree de la riviere : et avoit entendu de luy qu'elle estoit aisee ; par
quoy il entre en la rivoir plus facilemeut traicter avec les sauvaiges.

Le lendemain vindrent au mesme lieu le grand roy Satirona, les roys Tacata-
courou, Halianacani, Atore\ Harpaha, Helmacape, Helicopile, Montana et
autres ; tous parens et alliez du roy Satirona. Quand ils furent venuz ils en-
voierent prier le cappitaine Gourgue de decendre, ce qu'il feit accompaigne de
ses soldats portans leurs harqubouzes. Quand les roys veirent venir les Fran9ois
arraez ils eulrent quelque frayeur, et feirent dire au cappitaine Gourgue pour
quoy venoit-il k eulx arme, attendu qu'ils vouloient s'associer avec luy? II leur
respondit qu'il les voioit avec leurs armes* et qu'il portoit les siennes. Tout
aussi-tost ils commanderent a leurs subjects de poser leurs arcs et fleches, et les
feirent enlever a gros faisseaulx et les porter chez eux : et le cappitaine Gourgue
faict poser les harqaebouzes a ses gens et retenir les espees, et ainsi s'ea va
trouver le roy Satiroua, qui luy vient au devant, et le faict seoir a son coste
droict en ung siege de bois de lantisque convert de mousse qu'il luy feit faire
semblable au sien. Quand eux deux furent assis, deux des plus anciens
d'entr*eulx vindrent arraches les ronces et toute 1'herbe qui estoit devint eiifa^
et apres avoir bien nettoy^ la place tous s'assirent i terre en road. Et eomrae
le cappitaine Gourgue voaloil parler, !e roy Satiroua (qui n'est poiai fa^onne 4
la civilte" de par deca) le devfcnea, Iny disant qne depots qoe les Espaignols
avoient prins le tort basti par les Francois, la Floride B'avoit jamais en ung boa
jour, et que les Espaignolz leur avoient faict la guerre continoelement, les
avoient chassey de leurs maisons, avoient coupp^ leurs mils, avoient viole lars
femmes, ravy leurs filles, tue leurs petjts eafans, et encores qiie Iny et les aatres
rois eussent soufFert tous ces maalx, a cause de Tamities qn'tls avoient contract**
avec les Fran9ois, par qui la terre avoit este habitee premierement ; toBte&ois Us
n'avoieBt jamais cesse d'aymer les Francois, pour le bom traicterneEt qs*ib a
avoient recea lors qu'ilz y commandoieaL Qae aprte le massacre ^e ks
Espaigiiols avoient faict des Francois, ii avoit troave mug eafaat %i $*<e estoit

2/6 APPENDIX.

fuy dans les bois, lequel il avoit tousjours depuis iiouir} comme son enfant
piompie ; que les Espaignols avoient *aict tout ce qui estoit possible poui 1'avoii
affin de le tuer, mais il 1'avoit tousjours gaide pour le lendie quelque jour aux
Fian9ois t quand ils viendroient & la Flonde, et puis que vous estos icy (dist-il
au cappitaine Gomgue) teney, je vous le lends Le cappitaine Gouigue tres
aise de ce qu'il trou\oit les Indiens si bien disposez pour 1'execution de sou
dessemg, et mesmes de ce que le loy Satiroua estoit de luy mesmes entie le
premier au propos des Espaignols, le remercia bien affectueusement de la bonne
amitie qu il portoit aux Francois, et particulierement de ce qu'il avoit conserve
ce jeune homme, les pne tous de perseverei tousjours en ceste bonne affection ,
leur pioposant la grandeur et la bonte du loy de Fiance. Quand aux Espai-
gnols que le temps s'approchoit qu'ilz seioient punis des maulx qu'ils avoient
commis tant contie les Indiens que centre les Fianois, et si les lois et leuis
sujects avoient este maltiaictez en haine des Fiangois que aussi seioient-jls
vengez paries Fran90is-mesmes. Comment? dist Satiioua, tiessaillant d'aise,
vouldnez-vous bien faire la guerre aux Espaignols ? Et que vous en semble t-il ?
(dist le cappitaine Gourgue dissimulant son affection et son enterprise pom les
mettre en jeu quant et soy). II est temps murhoy de vengei 1'mjure qu'ils ont
faicte a nostie nation mais pour ceste heure je ne m'estois piopose que de
lonouveller nostie amitie avecques vous et veoir comme les choses se passoient
par de9a pour revenir incontinent apres centre eulx, avec telles forces que je
verrois estre besomg : touteffois quand j'entends les grands maulx qu'ilz vous
ont faicts, et font tous les jours, j'ay compassion de vous, es me prend envie de
leur counr sus, sans plus attendre, pour vous dehvrer de leur oppression plustost
huy que demain. Helas, (dist Satiroua) le grand bien que vous nous fenez ! he
que nous serions heuieux ' Tous les autres s'escnerent de mesmes. Je pense
(dist le cappitame Gourgue) que vous senez voulon tiers de la partie, et ne
\ouldnez que les Fran5ois eussent tout 1'honneui de vous avons deliviez de la
tirrannie des Espaignols Ouy, dist Satiroua, nous, et nos subjets irons avecques
vous, et mounous quantetvous si besomg est. Les autres roys firent aussi
pareille responce. Le cappitaine Gourgue qui avoit trouve ce qu'il cheicheoit,
les loue et remercie grandement, et pour battre le fer pendant qu'il estoit chault
leur dist : Voire-mais si nous voullons leur faire la guerre, il fauldroit que ce
fust incontinant. Dans combien de temps pourriez-vous bien avoir assemble
vosgens prets a marcher ? Dans tiois jouis dist Satiroua, nous et nos subjects
pourrons nous rendre icy, pour partie avec vous. Et ce pendant, (dist le cappi-
taine Gourgue) vous donnerez bon ordre que le tout soit tenu secrect . affin que
les Espaignols n'en puissent sentir le vent, Ne vous soulciez, dirent les rois,

APPENDIX 277

nous leur voullons plus de mal que vous. Et voiant le cappitaine Goi.rjae que
les fondemens de son enterprise estoient jectez assez bien e: heareuaement,
pensa qu'il ne falloit difieier plus long-temps a ces bonnes gens ce qj'il leur
vouloit donner , et commence a leur deppartir de ce qu'il avoit hue: porter a
ceste fin expiessement, choses dont nous ne faisons pomct de cas par de$a po*ir
1'habomdance tant de la matiere que des maistres qui erf scaven faue ; el poar y
estie accoustumey de tout temps Mais eulx a qui ces choses sont n^jve'^es, et
qui n'ont n*y matiere, ny artisans pour en faire, les estiment mnniraeni coinme
cousteaux, dagues, hachez, cizeaux, poinsons, esgaillettes, boarces, miroirs, son-
nets, patenostres, de voire et autres teile=, choses Et apres leur en a\ oir depam
a tous selon ce qu'il pouvoit juger de la qualite et merites d'lin chacun . il disi
au roy Satiroua, et aux antics 1015 : Advisez s'il y a quelqu'aultre chose que vous
veuilhez avoir , ne Fespargnez poinct. Eulx, encore qu'ils fus^nt plus que
contens de ce qu'jls avoieut des-ja 9 touteffois voians la bonne volante du cappi-
taine Gourgue, respondent qu'ils vouldroient bien avoir chacun une de sea
chemises, lesquelles ils demandoient non pour les vestir si ce n'est quelquefois
par grande singulante, mais pour apres leur trespass les faire enterrer a\ec
eulx, comme aussi ils font de toutes les plus belles choses qu'ils ont pea amasser
en leur vie. Le cappitaine Gourgue, tout aussi-tost en donna une a chacun des
rois, y adjoustant encores tout ce qui luy \int a la main qu'il pensa leur pouvoir
estre agi cable Le io\ Satiroua qui avoit deux cordes de grain d'argent au col,
en donna Teune au cappitaine Gourgue, les autres roys luy donnerent des peaulx
de ceif accoustrees a la mode du pais

Pendant que les sauvaiges s'amusoient a leurs prcsens, le cappitaine Gourgue
qui ne pensoit a aultre chose qu'a executer son entrepnse et ne voulloit perdre
une minute de temps, interroge le jeunne homme Frangois que le roy Satiroua
luy avoit donne, et entendit de luy comme les Espaignols pou-voient estre
environ quatre cens de nombre . et comment ils avoient basti deux petis forts a
Tentre'e de la riviere de May oultre le grand fort que les Francois avoient hasty
sur la mesme riviere une heue au dessus. Ce jeune homme estoit natif du
Havre-de Gi5.ce, de Taage de seize ans, nomm^ Pierre Deb re, lequel pour Tintel-
ligence et usatge qu'il avoit des deux langaes a este forte utile au cappitaine
Gourgue en ce voiage : au retour duquel il a este rendu a ses parens. Le cappi-
taine Gourgue, dehberant d'envoier recongnoistre les forts, dist au roy Satiroua .
Dans trois jours comme vous m'avez dit, vous serez de retour icy avec vos sub-
jects. Dans pareil temps pourront aussi estre revenuz ceulx que reavoieray
pour recongnoistre les ennemis ; mais> pour les guider 11 est besoin de quelqn^an
de vos gens homme fidelle et seur. Le roy Satiroua tout aussytost baiile no sien

278 APPENDIX.

nepveu nomme Olotoiaca homme fort vaillant et loyal, en la conduicte duquel
ung gentilhome Commingeoys nomme Estampes avec deu\ autres, s'en vout
recongnoistie les forts Apres que le cappitame Gourgue eust pais des ostages
du roy Sathoua pour ceulx qu'il envoiat sous sa parole, qui luy furent baillez
tout aussitost que demandez Je vous bailleray mon fils unique, dist Satiroua,
et eelle de mes femmes *que j'ayme le mieulx:, affin que vous congnoissiez que
nous ne sommes point menteuit n'y tiaistres, comme sont ces Espaignols, qui
nous trompent tousjours, et ne font nen de ce qu'ils nous piornettent. Le cap-
pitaine Gourgue est bien aise de ce que ses affaires s'achemment si bien, et pour
envoier les sauvaiges, a ce que plustost ils feussent de retour, il leur dist Ils
vous ont bien faict du mal les meschans, mais nous en aurons la raison a ceste
fois et affin que nous les puissons mieux attiaper, je vous pue ne tarder plus que
des trots jours que m'avez dit, et tenii le cas bien secrect, ce que le roy Satiroua,
et tous les autres prominent de faiie et sur cela ils s'en allerent chez eulx dan-
sans et saultans d'aise, et le cappitaine Gourgue se retna en ses navires avec ses
ostages ; le nls du icy estoit tout nud comme aussi sont 4 tous les autres hommeb ;
la femme du roy estoit vestue de mousse d'arbre aagee d'environ dixhuict ans
Us furent trois jours es naviies du cappitaine Gourgue, attendant que Ton feust
retourne de recongnoistre les forts, et a trois jouis de la presqu'i mesme heure,
voicy d'un coste le gentilhomme Commmgeois qui faict son rapport de ce qu'il
avoit veu, et d'autre coste les rois avec bon nombre de leurs subjects, bien armez
d'arcs et de flesches, tous prets 4 maicher

Avant que partir de la, les sauvaiges feirent ung certain bruvage nomme par
eulx cassive qu'ils ont accoustume de prendre touteffois et quantes qu'ils vont
pour combattre en lieu ou il y du danger Ce breuvage faict de certaine herbe
et beu tout chault les garde d'avoir faim ni soif pai 1'espace de vingt-quatie
heares , ils presenterent premierement au cappitaine Gouigue, qui feit semblant
d'en boire, et n'en avalla point, puis le roy Satiroua en print et apres luy tous
les autres chacun selon son degre Cela faict avec plusieurs ceremonies, ils
levant tous la main, jurent et promettent qu'ils feront leur debvoir de bien com-
battre, et qu'ils n'abandonneront le cappitaine Gourgues.

Avant que tout ceci fust faict, la plus part du jour s'estoit passee Neantmomg
on n'arresta de partir ce jour mesmes, et dirent les sauvages quMs chemine-
roient bien toute nuict, pnant le cappitaine Gourgue de les faire mettre de la
la riviere de Tacatacourou avec ses vaisseaulx, car le lieu ou estoient les Espai-
gnols estoit de la la riviere.

Le cappitaine Gourgue, les volant ainsi deliberez, leur assigne un lieu selon
qu'il pouvoit juger par le rapport qu'on luy avoit faict pour s'y rendre tous

APPENDIX. 279

ensemble ; qui fut 4 la bouche d'une riviere nominee par eulx HaUmacam, el
par les Fran 9 ois qui avoient harbite le pais estoit appelee la Somme, puis il les
feit tous mettre de la la riviere, excepte Olotoraca le nepveu du roy qu'il retint
avec soy pour guide, qui oncques depuis ne 1'habandonna. Et pour ce que son
arc ne luy avoit este r'apporte depuis qu'U fut porte au village avec les autres, il
demanda des aimes, et lors iuy fut baillee une picque de laquelle il se sceut bien
ayder contre les Espagnols, Quand les sauvaiges eulrent passe la riviere, le cap-
pitaine Gourgue commenca a enhorter ses gens, leur remonstrer la bonne dispo-
sition des sauvages, et 1'ardeur dont ils marchoient contre les Espagnols,
s'asseurant qu'ils feroient d'autant mieux que leur nourriture et education, leur
police et religion est meilleure que celle de ces pouvres sauvaiges, et comme il
vouloit continuer, ils se prindrent a crier, Allons, allons : comme ceolx qai j
eussent voullu estre desja, et qui estoient tous resoluts d'y moumr. A done le
cappitaine Gourgue, avec tous ses soldats et soixante xnariniers s'en va par iner
en deux barques qu'il avoit oultre les trois navires, la garde desquelles avec le
reste des navires il laissa a Francois Lague Bourdelois, patron et maistre de sa
navire, homme aussi experimente au faict de la marine qu'il en soit de ce temps,
lui recommandant de les bien faire recalfeutrer et de tenir le tout prest poor
eulx en retourner au plustost si Dieu leur donnoit bon succez ; que si Diea veult
(dist-il) que je raeure a une poursuicte si juste, je vous laisse tout ce que j'ay icy
et vous prie de reconduire et remener mes soldats en France, comme je me fie
de vous, et en disant cela luy bailla les clefs de ses bahutz et de tout ce qu'il
avoit la. Cecy attendrist fort le cueur de tous, et mesmement des mariniers qui
demeureoient pour la garde des navires, lesquels ne peurent contenir leurs,
larmes, et fut ceste departie plaine de compassion d'ouir tant d'adieux d'une part
et d'aultre, et tant de charges et recommendations de la part de ceulx qui s'eo
alloient a leurs parents et amis, et a leurs femmes et alliez au cas qs'ils ne
retournassent. Car, au partir de leur pais, ife ne pensoieot ailer i la Fknicb
comme dit a este, et cependant parray tout cela TOUS eossiez admire rallegresse
de ces gens ; lesquels encor* qn'ils pensasseut aller k une mort presqae certaine :
touteffois ils ne craignoient sinon de n'y arriver assez a temps por rhonneHr
qu'ils esperoient d'avofr seulement pretends a sng si bel aete.

Quand Us furent k la bouche de la riviere de Halimancani 06 les sauvags ks
attendoient, qui estoit environ la poincte du jour, le vent de nord-est commeiicB.
k, soaraer si fort qu'il s'en fallut bien pen qu'ils ue pertsseut, et cela apporta tel
retai&tement que les sauvaiges ne peavent de ce JOIMT 1& passer la rm&e ; feoote-
ffois le cappitaine Gourgne la passa a grand* difficaUd enviroa les Irtftkt beares
du matia, et laissant la ung de ses Yaisseaox poor les aider passer, print son

280 APPENDIX.

chemin par terre pour les aller attendie a la riviere de Saiabay qui estoit a
quatre lieues de la. Mais le chemin se tiouva si mauvais, il y eut tant d'eaues et
marescages & passei, tant de bois a traveiser , qu'a fane ces quatre lieues ilz
furent depuis les huict heuies de matin jusques a cinq heures du son le cappi-
tame Gouigue, aiant toujours son coips de cunasse sur le doz, et ne trouverent
rien a manger tout le jour, smon quelques racines de palmieis sauvaiges, au
moien de quoy ils estoient si las et se affamez qu'ils n'en pouvoient plus.

Quand ils furent & la riviere de Sarabay, ils y trouverent trois 1013 bouvaiges
qui les attendoient, conduisans chacun cent hommes Or depuis ceste nvieie
de Garabay jusques au lieu ou estoient les deux piemiers forts, il y pouvoit avoir
deux lieues Le cappitame Gouigue qui voioit que Tissue de son desseing con-
sistoit en diligence et celerite, encores qu'il n'eust rien mange de tout le joui,
pour ce que les manmers n'avoient encor conduit la barque, ou il avoit faict
mettre de ses pi o visions partant de la uviere de Tacatacouiou ; touteffois il
partit avec dix de ses harqaebouzieis et sa guide pour aller lecongnoistre le
premier fort, affin de 1'assailhr le lindemain au matin. Ce chemin se trouva
aussi fascheux et difficile que 1'aultie, la nuict estoit obscuie et sombre, une
petite riviere qui est joignant le fort, enflee (pour ce que la mei commenfoit i
monter) ne peut estre passee, de soite que le cappitame Gourgue est contramt
de s'en retourner a la riviere de Sarabay Irouver ses gens, las du chemin et plus
fasche de n'avoir nen faict. Ung des roys nomme Hihcopile les voiant
retourne tout pensif demande au truchement en son langage Qu'a ton icy *
Le truchement luy respord, qu'il estoit marri de ce qu'il n'avoit nu lecongoistre
le fort Dis-luy dist Hihcopile, que je le meneray le long de la mer sans
trouvex boue ny marest ; niais le chemin en est plus long. Le cappitaine
Gourgue entendant cela, voulut que Ten y allast incontmant, et accompaigne de
ce roy Hihcopile ; part avec tous ses gens, et envoye les deux autres rojs par
le bois pour se trouver au matin au passaige de la petite riviere qu'il n'avoit peu
passer tout joignant le premier fort, il faict haster ses gens et marche en grande
diligence pour estre li a la poincte du jour avant qu'il nuisse estre appe^a. Et
ainsi que le jour commenpoit k poindre, il arriva. a ceste riviere que estoit grosse
et enflee pour la mer qui estoit montee ; neantmomgs il faict souder le gue par
quelques ungs de ses manmers, qui trouvent qu'elle ne se peult passer, dont il
est bien fasche ; car il estoit arrive bien a painct pour surprandre les Espaignols
qui dormoient encores, et pourtant il se dehbere de se retirer dans le bois tout
joigoant la riviere, attendant que la mer fust descendu, et tout aussi-tost les aller
assaillir. A peme estoit il encores dans le bois qu'il commenca a plouvoir si fort
qu*ils degouttoient de toutes parts, et les soldats eurent bien fort a faire i garder

28l

leui feu Le jour s'estant esclarci Ie cappitame Gourgue \oioit Ie fort a son ru-e
du lieu ou il estoit, et aiant blen regarde de coste et d'aultre et recongneu le
tout, il s'advisa qu'il n'y avoit que quelque commencement de fossez, et pouTtc.r>t
fut conferme en la resolution qu'il avoit faicte entrant dedns le boi? rte
1'assailhr aussi-tost qu'il pouiioit passer la n\iere. Cependant il \OIL.: les
Espaignols qui tiavailloient dans le fort, qui le mettoit en qjelque loa"<jte
que sa venue ne fust descouverte , "mais 1'evenement monstra qu'il ne se doub-
toient de nen , car apies U prinse du fort on veit qae c'estoit une fountaine a
quoy ils travailloient.

Sur les dix heures la mer estant basse, il alia passer la m lere ung peu plus
hault ou il avoit veu ung petit bois entre la riviere et le fort, qui luy serviroii
poui n'estre point apperCU tant & passer la riviere qu'a mettie ses gens en ordie,
et pour ce que 1'eaue de la riviere passon la cemture, il commanda anx soldaN
de attacher leurs fournimentz aux morrions, et prendre en Tune main Jear
haiquebouze avec leur mesche, et Tepee en Taultre.

Et au passage de la riviere il y avoit si grande quantite d'huistres que le^
souhers des soldats en fuient couppez et la pluspart d'eulx blesses aux pied>
poui ce que les huistres sont la plus grandes et leurs escoilles plus trenchante*
vue de celles que nous \oionb oidinairement par dea. Touteffois on ne fut pas
plustost de la la ri\iere qu T ils lemettent leurs armes et d'eulx- mesraes s'ap-
piestent au combat. Le cappitame Gourgue bailla \ingt soldats a son lieutenant
et dix manniers portans pots et lances a feu pour mettre le feu 4 la porte, et
derriere le petit bois ou ilz ne pouvoient estre veuz, il rengea ses gens en
bataille et les voiant bien disposez et asseuiez il conquent qu'il n'estoit besomg
de grande exhortation : aussi le pomct, oil il estoit, requersit plustos.1 une
prompte execution qu'une longue harangue ; et partout il le feit court
Je veoy bien mes amis (dist-il) que le cueur vous croist au besoing, aussi
vous ay-je choisiz pour telz, % ostre contenance asseuree me pr^dit que nous
vengeions aujourd'huy Tinjure faicte au Roy et a nostre pais ; et leur roon-
tiant Ie fort qu'ils pouvoient entreveoir a travers les arbres, voila (dist-il| les
% olleurs qui ont voile ceste terre a nostre roy, voili les meurtriers qui ont
massacre nos fran$ois. Aliens, allons, revenchons nostre roy, revenchons la
France, montrons-nous Fran5Ois , et aussy-tost il commande a son lieutenant
de donner a la porte avec sa trouppe, et luy avec la sienne va centre une terrasse
enfonne de platteforme, fort basse qui estoit a coste du fort, oil il n'y avoit
qu'ung petit commencement de fossez. Les Espaignolz ne faisoient que venii
de disner et curvoient encores leurs dentz quand nos gens marchans a grandz
pas, la teste baissee furent apperceuz, a deux cens pas du fort, par le canonmer

282 APPENDIX.

qui venoit de monter sur cesse terrasse, lequel se meit incontinent a crier en
espaignol, anne, arme, voicy des Francois, voicy des Fran9Ois , et quant et quant
deslache sur eulx une rosse coullerrme, qui estoit sur la trasse et en tiia pai
deux fois, et comme il vouloit charger pour la troisieme Olotoraca plus viste & la
course que nul autre, et qui n'estoit mstiuict a garder son renz, s'avanfa et
monta sur la terrasse qui n'estoit gueres haulte et le tianspercea de sa picque de
part en part Les Espaignols s'estans mis en armes au cii da cannonier,
sortent hors le fort ou pour combattre, ou pom se retiier vers leurs compaignons
selon ce qu'ils verroient quand ils seroient dehors Le cappitaine Gourgue a
leur sortie estoit arrive tout a poinct au pied de la platteforme, et son lieutenant
pres de la porte, et comme il montoit a la platteforme son lieutenant s'escne
que Espaignols se sauvoient, et lors le cappitaine Gourgue retournant vistement
vers la porte les enferme entre son lieutenant et luy, si bien que de soixante
qu'ils estoient, il n'en es chappa pas ung qui ne fust moit ou pus, on en punt en
vie le plus qu'on peust par commandement du cappitaine Gourgue, pour leui
faire comme ils avoient faict aux Fran$ois

Le premier fort ne fut pas plustost piis que Ton s'en va assaillu le second,
lequel estoit de I'autre coste de la nvieie de May vis a vis du piemier pour
s'entre secouni , aussi ne cessa-t-il de tirer a grands coups de canon pendant
qu'on prenoit le premier et incommodoit nos gens grandement lesquels bra-
querent centre trois pieces d'artilleiie qu'ils avoient trouves dans le premier
fort, et la coullevrine qui avoit este trouvee sur la platforme, qui estoit marquee
tout au long des armoines du feu Roy Heniy, a quoy Ton congneut qu'elle avoit
este prise sur les Francois au temps du massacre, ce qui imta encores plus nos
francois, et de ces quatre pieces on ne cessa de tirer contre-eulz, pendant que le
cappitaine Gourgue avec quartrevmgts harquebouziers passoient vistement la
riviere en sa barque qu'on venoit de conduire U tout a poinct. Lequel va
descendre enfre le fort et ung bois qu'il y avoit tout apres. Se doubtant de ce
qui advint que les Espaignols s'enfuiroient dans les bois pour puis apres se
retirer au grand fort qui estoit a une lieue de la.

A peine le cappitaine Gourgue estoit de la la riviere quaud les sauvaiges ne
pouvant attendre qu'on leur r'amenast la barque pour passer saultent dans
1'eaue et nageans d'un bias et tenans leurs arcs de Taultre couvrent tout la
nvierie de bord a autre. Les Espaignols qui estoieiit en nombre de soixante
voians une si grande multitude et si dehberee, et pour 1'estonnement dont ils
estoient saisiz ne discernants entre fran9ois et sauvaiges, se cuidans sauver es
bois se vent pr^cipiter entre les Francois qui dischargent sur eulx si dru que la
pltispart en sont estenduz sur la place, les airtres voulans tourner le dos se

APPENDIX 283

tiouvent enfeimez par les sauvaiges Ausi ne pouvans ne combattre, n> fuir
ruent, les armes bas, et supplient pour la we, qui leur est ostee plustost qu'ils
n'ont achave de la demander.

A grand peme le cappitaine Gourgue en peult faire gardei quinze en vie pour
leui estre faict selon ce qu'ilz avoient faict aux Francois Apres ceste depesche
le cappitaine Gourgue entra au second fort, d'ou il feit incontinent transporter
tout cequ'il y avoit trou\e, et icpassant la riviere avec ses prisonners retoarna
au premier fort pour s'y fortiffier ne sachant quel cueur auroient les autres T ny en
combien de temps il ponrroit \enir a bout du grand fort qui estoit a une heue de
1 sur la mesme rivieie du coste ou estoit le second fort. Parmy les prisonniers
qu'il tenoit il y avoit ung sergent de bande vieux soldat duquel il sceut la
haulteur des remparts du grand fort, et le [lieu par ou il luy seroit plus aise de
le prandre.

Ces deux premiers forts furent pns la \eille de Quasimodo .1568 Le cappi-
taine Gourgue sejourna le dimenche et le lundy et cependant faict faire huict
eschelles de la haulteur qui luy avoit este monstree, et ung pourtraict de tout le
fort en quoy ce vieux soldats s'entendoit bien. Au reste il avoit si bien pourveu
& son cas que tout le pais estoit leve en armes contre les Espaignolz, de sone
que ceulx du grand fort n'avoyent moien de sortir pour rien descouvnr, toute-
fibis ils desguiserent tin Espaignol en sauvage, et Fenvoierent le lundy pour
recongnoistre quelles gens c'estoient et combien Le cappitaine Gourgue estant
i 1'entour dudict fort avec Olotoraca qui tousjours le suivoit, c'eat Espaignol est
recongneu pai Olotoraca, et quant et quant empoigne, il voulut faire le fin du
commencement, disant qu'il estoit ung de ces soldats qui gardoient le premier
fort qui ne s'estant peu letirer au grand foit pour la multitude dea sauvaiges,
s'estoit ainsi deguise de peur d'estre troue par eulx et avoit mieux ayme se veuir
rendre i la mercy des Francis, qui se mettre en dangei d'estre massacre par
les sauvaiges, mais quand le sergent de bande qu'on feit venir tout incontmant
luy eut mamtenu qu'il estoit de la garde du grand fort, et espion, il confessa
qu'il estoit envoie par le Gouveraeur du grand fort, pour scavoir qui estoit ce
nouveau venir et quelles gens il avoit Le cappitaine Gourgue luy demanda ce
qu'on estimoit de luy au grand fort ; il respond que Ton avoit donne i entendre
au Gouverneur qu'il avoit deux mil frangois dont le Gouverneur et ses gens en
nombre de deux cens soixante estoient si estonnez qu'ilz ne scavoient ce qa'ils
faisoient

Le cappitaine Gourgue est bien aise de ces nouvelles et se deiibere de les
aller assilhr le lendemain en cest effroy , et de faict ce jour-l& mesme II feict tous
ses preparatifz> ordonne de ceulx qu*il devoit laisser pour la garde de la bouche

284 APPENDIX.

de la riviere et du fort, de quoy il donne la charge au cappitame Mesmes son
enseigne avec quinze haiquebouziers. Et la nuict ensuivant il faict partir les
sau\aiges pour smaller embuscher dans le bois paitie de d partie de la nvieie.
Et le lendemain au matin il part avec ses gens menant avec soy le seigent de
bande et Tespion attachez ensemble pour luy monstier k 1'ceil ce qu'ils luy avoi-
ent dit de parole et faict veoir en painctuie En allant, Olotoiaca, iiepveu du
roy S<itiroua celuy qui avoit tue le canonnier au premier fort homme couiageux
et vaillant a mer\eilles dist au cappitame Gourgue duquel il ne s'esloignoit
jamais, qu'ii 1'avoit bien servi jusques la, et qu'il avoit faict tout ce qu'il luy
avoit promis, qu'il scavoit bien qu'il mouiroit a la punse du grand fort, mais
pour la \ie il ne vouldroict failhr i s'y trouver, et vous pne, dist-il, de donnei a
ma femme ce que vous me donnenez a moy si je vivoib , affin qii'elle Tenteire
avec moy et que j'en sois mieux venu quand j'aiuveray au village des espnts.
Le cappitame Gourgue dist qu'il aymoit mieux le recompensei et hoiioiei vif
que mort, et esperoit le ramener vivant et victoneux

Cependant ils descouvrent le fort, et tout aussi-tost que les Espaignols les
voient, ilz commencent a tirer sur eulx de deux doubles coullevnnes qui estoient
sur ung boulevert, qni commandoit le long de la riviere. Le cappitame Goui-
gue gaigne vistement une montaigne couveite de bois et forests , au pied de
laquelle estoit le fort, et qui s'estendoit depuis le heu oil il avoit este appeieii,
jusques de la le fort bien loing. Et au mozen des aibres qui le couvroient il
s'approcha du fort aussi pres qu'il voulut sans pouvoir estie offense, n'y veu II
s'arresta en ung lieu d'ou il pouvoit veoir a son aise dans le foit, et n'avoit
intention de 1'assailhr de ce jour la mais de leur donnei 1'escalade le lendemam
au matin du coste-mesmes de la montaigne, ou le fosse n'estoit flanque, et dont
partie de ses gens pourroient battre ceulx qui vouldroient derTendre le lempart
pendant que les autres monteroient Mais il advmt que les Espaignolz feirent
une sailhede soixante harquebouzieis pour recongnoistre ses forces, il les veoit
ainsi qu'ils sortoient, et alloient courbez le long du fosse, et tout aussi-tost com-
manda a son lieutenant d'allei (avecq vingt harquebouziers) de 1'aultre coste se
mettre eiitre le fort et eulx, et quand il veit son lieutenant en lieu d'ou il
pourroit les empescher de lentrer, il va droit a eulx, et commanda a ses gens de
ne tirer qu'ils ne fussent foit pres pour incontinent apres avoir tire mettre la
main a 1'espee. Quand les Espaignols furent hois du fosse prestz a entper en la
montaigne, le cappitaine Gourgue avec ses harquebouziers se trouvent au pied,
qui les choislrent de si pres quM n'y cut pas ung coup de perdu, dont plusieurs
furent portez par terre, et quant et quant mettans la mam a i'espee commence-
rent _a chamailler ceulx qui restoient debout , et comme ilz tournoient le dos

APPENDIX. 285

pom se retirei au foit, voicy le lieutenant qui charge sur eu\ de 1'autie coste. de
sorte qu'il n'y eut pas ung d'entr'eulx qui eust moien de r'emrer dans le fort, et
furent tons U tuez ceulx de dedans voians qu'ils avoient en ung moment
perdu le plus beau et le meilleur de leurs gens, et pen-ans que ceulx qr: avoient
faict ceste defifaicte ne feussent qu'une petite partie d'un plas grand rjorr^re
desespeient de pouvoir resistei et d'ailleurs ne pouvans esperer aucune compo-
sition de ceulx: qu'ils avoient injuriez si oultraguesement, abaTidonnent *e fort, et
sortent pour s'aller sauvei dans les bois, qui estoient de 1'avtre costt* du foil, o-u
le cappitame Gouigue avoit faict mettre une grande multitude de sauvaiges, qui
tout aussi-tost descocherent leurs flesches sur eulx, et entre autres il y en eut ung
qui d'un coup tiaveisa la rondelle d'un cappitame Espaignol et lay entra la
flesche bien avant dans le corps par le tetin gauche, et Fabattit mort par terre.
Le cappitame Gourgue qui les avoit veuz sortir et estoit accoura apres eul^, le*
anesta entre les bois et le fort ainsi quMz fu3 T oient les traicts des sau\aiges et la
ils fuient toustuez et taillez en pieces, sinon ceulx qu'd grand difficalte il peust
reserver pour les faire mourir en volleurs

Dans ce giand foit furent trouvees cinq doubles coullevnnes, quatre moyennes
et d'aultres petites pieces de fer et de fonte, avec dix-huict grosses cacqnes de
pouldie, on y tiouva aussy force armes comme harquebouzes, corcelels, rondelles,
picques et auties Le lendemain le cappitaine Gourgue aiant faict charger
1'artilleiie en deux vaisseaulx, ung sauvaige faisant cu5re du pois-son melt le feu
a une trainee de pouldre que les Espaignols avoient faicte dont personne ne
s'estoit encores appereu. Le feu se print aux pouldres qui renversa les maga-^
zms de fons en comble, et brusla entierement les maisons qui estoient de bois tie
sappm, les hommes n'eurent poinct de mal pour ce qu T ilz estoient tous dehors
ca et li : mais tout ce qui estoit dedans fut brusle et perdu, en sorte que le
cappitame Gourgue n'en rapoita rien smon rartillerie qu'il avoit ja faicte
charger.

Les Espaignols qui avoient este pnns en vie en ce dernier fort, furent menez
au lieu ou ils avoient penduz les Francois, apres que le cappitaine Gourgue leur
eust remonstr^ 1' in jure quails avoient faicte au roy, luy massacrans ses subjects, et
luy vollant, la terre que sa maje^te* avoit conquise, et le fort qu'il y avoit faict
bastn - et qu'ilz devoient avoir pense qu'une si lasche trafnson, et une i detes-
table cruaulte exercee contre ung si puissant roy et centre une nation * gene-
reuse, nedemeuieioit impunie, que luy, qui estoit ung des moindres gentilhcwnrae*;
que le roy eust en son royaume en avoit entrepns la vengeance a ses propres cousti,
et despens. Quand les rois tres chrestien et cathobque eus^ent e$t^ eunemi^ et
en guerre moitelle, encores ne se pourroient-ils exctiser de t rah is on et craaute

286 APPENDIX.

extreme * Mamtenant que leurs Majestez estoient amis et alhez si estioictement,
leur faict ne pouvoit trouvei nom assez abominable, et moms encores peine qui
luy fust coirespondante , Mais encores que vous ne puissez (dist-il) endurer la
peme que vous a\ezmeiitee, il est besoin que vous endunez celle que 1'ennemy
vous peult donner honnesternent affin que pai vostre exemple les autres appre-
ignent a garder la paix et alliance que si meschamment et malheureusement
vous avez violee Cela dit, ils sont branchez aux mesmes aibies oil ils avoient
penduz les Francis, et au lieu d'un escnteau que Pierre Melendes y avoit faict
mettre, con tenant ces mots en langage Espaignol Je ne faicts cecy comme b
Fran^oys ?nais comme & LutMnsns, le cappitaine Gouigue faict graver en une
table de sapin avec ung fer chauit Je ne faicts cecy comme Espai-
gnolz, n'y comme a Maiannes , mais comme a traistres, volleurs et meur-
tners.

Ceste execution estant ainsi faicte, le cappitaine Gouigue qui avoit faict ce
pourquoy il avoit entiepris le voiage dehbeia de s'en retouiner, et n'aiant assez
d'hommes pourlaisser a la Flonde qui peuissent temi les foits, il dehbe'ia de
les ruiner de peur que les Espaignols qui tiennent d'autre tene assez pies de la,
survenans ne s'en emparassent de rechef, et mesme que ce ne fust une occasion
pour les y attirer, ou que les sauvageb mesme ne s'y fortiffiabsent, et que par ce
moien 1'accez et 1'entiee en fust plus mal-aisee au roy quand il plaiioit a sa
Majeste y envoier de ses subjects pour y peupler, ausquels seioit plus aise de
bastir de nouveau que de prandre les forteiesses qui se trouveroient basties, bien
emparees et bien mumes centre eulx , mais affin que les sauvaiges ne ti ouvas-
sent mauvais que les fortz fussent luynez, ams qu'en estans hien aises ils les
ruynassent eulx-mesmes, il assemble les rois et leur aiant lemonstie du com-
mencement comment il leui avoit tenu prommesse, et leb avoit vangez de ceulx
qui les avoient tuannisez si ciuellement, il vint tomber puis apres sur le propos de
ruiner les forts, emploiant tout ce qui pouvoit servir i leur persuader que tout ce
qu'il en vouloit faire estoit pour leur proffit et en haine de tant de meschancetez
et cruaultez que les Espaignols y avoient commises A quoy ilz piesterent si
voulontiers Toreille, que le cappitaine Gourgue n'eust pas plustost acheve de
parler, qu*ils s'en courarent droict au fort, crians et appellans leurs subjects
apres ettlx, ou ilz feirent telle diligence qu'en moings d'ung jour ils ne laisserent
pierre sur pierre,

Apres cek, on part pour retourner aux deux premiers forts, lesquels furent
abbatuz de pareille ardeur que le premier, et y pendit-on trente Espaignols
prisonnierrs qu'on y avoit laissez ; Tung desquels confessa avoir pendu cinq
Francois de sa mam, et s'accusoit grandement, disant en son langage que Dieu

APPENDIX. 287

estoit veritable et juste, qui 1'avoit i la parfin ronduict au suppiice dont il
menace les inhumams et cruelz.

Ainsi, ne restant plus rien a faire, le cappitaine Gourgue, voulant retoumer 4
ses navires, qu'il avoit laissez a la bouche de la riviere de Tacatacourou, aultre-
ment appelee la Seine, a quinze lieues de la, il envoie par mer a\ec Fartillene
son lieutenant le cappitaine Casenauve, et luy avec quatre-vingts harquebouziers
et quarante mariniers portans picques, s'en va par terre, menant tousjours ses
gens en bataille k toutes adventures pour les sauvaiges, desquelz il ne se \ou-
loit fier trop. Par tout ou ils passoient, ils trouvoient les chemins couverts de
bonnes gens du pays qui luy venoient au devant de toutes parts comme
leur hbeiateur, portans du poisson cuyt et autres vivres pour les soldatz, et en-
tre autres une vielle femme qui leur dist qu'elle ne se soulcioit poinct de mourir
mamtenant, puisqu'elle avoit veu une aultrefois les Francois a la Floride.

Quand le cappitaine Gourgue est arrive 4 la riviere de Tacatacourou oil
estoient ses navires, il trouve que le maistre pilote avoit recalfeutre ses navires,
change les eaues, et appreste toutes choses, si bien qu'il ne falloit que s'embar-
quer. Icy done il print conge des Roys, les admoneste de persister en la devo-
tion qu'ilz ont tousjours eue au roy de France, qui les deffendra contre les
Espaignolz et contre tous autres. Et attendant que sa Majeste y envoie ung
bon nombre d'homraes pour leur protection et deffense ; qu'ilz se tiennent bien
sur leurs gardes, et advisent de n'estre poinct surprins. Ces bonnes gens sont
les plus marnz du Monde, et se mettent k pleurer quand ils veoient que le cap-
pitame Gourgue les veult laisser, et mesmes Olotoiaca qni avoit mieulx corabattu
que pronostique de soy. Mais furent remis tout aussi tost quand il leur eust
dit qu'il reviendroit & douze lunes de 14 (car c'est ainsi qu'ilz content) et leur
porteroit force miroirs, haches et cousteaulx, qui sont les choses quMs aynaeat le
mieux, et dirent qu'ilz s'en alloient faire danser leurs femmes, qui est le plus
grand signe de rejouissance dont ilz usent entre eulx.

Apres que le cappitaine Gourgue eust prins conge des Roys, il feit appeler ses
gens pour rendre giaces a Dieu tons ensemble de la victoire qu'il leur avoit
donnee, et pour le prier de leur estre guide et conducteur 4 leur retour en
France. Quand ils furent assembles : Mes amys (dit-il). rendons graces 4 Dieu
du bon succez qu'il a donne 4 nostre entreprise ; c'est luy qui nous a pr^servcz
du danger de la tempeste au cap de Finibus-Terne, k Tisle Espaignolle, & I'tsle
de Coube et a la riviere de Halmacani ; c'est luy qui a ploye le cnear 4es
sauvaiges 4 s'associer avec nous ; c'est luy qui a aveogle Fentendemeftt des
Espaignolz, en sorte quHls n'ont jamais pen descouvrir noz forces, ay cogoistre
et emploier les leurs. Ils estoient quatre pour ung en places *bft*s &&*
20

288 APPENDIX.

parees et bien pourveues d'aitilleiie, de munitions, d'armes et de vivres Nous,
poui toutes choses, n'avions que le bon droict ; et toutefFois nous les avons
vaincuz en moins d'un rien.

Par amsi ce n'est a nos forces, mais a Dieu seul que nous devons la victoiie
Remeicions-le done, mes amys, et recognoissons toute nostie vie Je grand bien
qu'il nous a faict et le pi ions de contmuer tousjours sa faveui enveis-nous, nous
guidant a nostie retour, et nous pieservant de tons dangeis Pnons-Ie aussy
qu'il 1m plaise disposei le cueur des hommes, en sorte que tant de dangeis ou
nous nous sommes, mis et tant de travaulx que nous avons enduiez trouvent
grace et faveur devant nostie Roy et devant toute la Fiance. Comme aussi
nous ne nous sommes pioposez autre chose que le service du Roy et 1'honneur
de nostre pays.

Apies avoir remercie et prie Dieu, ung lundi, tioisieme joui de may, le lendez-
vous fut donne comme Ton a accoustume' de fane sur mer, et les ancres levees
firent \oille et eurent le vent si propie qu'en dix-sept jouis ils feuent unze cens
lieues de mer, et depuis contmuantz leur navigation arnverent a La Rochelle le
lundy sixieme jour de juing, qui estoit le propie jour de Penthecouste Amsi ils
ne meirent au revenir que trente-quatre jours , toutefFois une si grande naviga-
tion ne fut sans quelques traverses ; car la patache avec huict hommes dedans
fut perdue ; comme aus&i a la pnnse des ports, et a la deffaicte des Espaignols
en la Flonde, estoient demeurez quelques gentilshommes de bon lieu et de
bonne part, hardiz et vaillans au possible , comme Lautome de Limosin, Biere,
Carrau, Gaschie, gascons , Pons de Xaintonge, et quelques soldats , tous lesquels
moururent combattans vaillamment, apies avoir faict des plus beaux exploitz et
actes de prouesse que Von eust peu attendre d'ung cueur noble et geenereux
dedie au service de son prince et a 1'honneur de sa patne.

Au retour, oultie la patache qui se perdit, la robeige ou estoit ung cappitaine
nomine Deux s'esgara a la haulteur d'une isle qu'on appelle la Vermude, et ne
vmt d'ung mois apres que le cappitaine Gouigue fust arrive Peu s'en fallut que
ceulx qui estoient en ceste navire ne perissent de la tempeste premierement et
puis de la faim Car lors mesraes que le cappitaine Gouigue paitit, ils n'avoient
tous ensemble manger que pour vmgt jours a raison d'un biscuit le jour de
quatre en quatre. Mais Dieu voulut que le cappitaine Gourgue estant a cinq
cens lieues de France rencontra ung navire d'un Basque sien amy, qui luy donna
dix quintaulx de biscuits, qui leur fut ung bien et plaisir mcroiable ; et ce d'au-
tant plus qu'ils ne demeurerent gueres-moins k faire ces cinq centz lieues qu'ils
avoient faict en tout le reste Or apres que le cappitaine Gourgue eut sdSjourne
qaelques jours k La Rochelle, ou il re9eut tout honneur, toute courtoisie, et tout

APPENDIX. 289

bon traictement des citoyens, il feit voille vers Bordeaux, ou il print la poste
pour aller vers M. de Montluc lay rendre compte de son voiage. II ha seen
depuis, que les Espaigtiolz advertiz par quelqu'ung, de ceulx qui 1'avoient veil
arnver & la Rochelle de ce qui avoit este faict a la Floride, avoient envoye dix-
huict pataches avec ime roberge de deux cens thonneaulx pour le surprendre, et
estoient arnvez a la radde de La Rochelle le jour-mesmes qu'il en estoit parti.
Et entendans qu'il avoit faict voille 1'avoient suivy jusques a Blaye. S'll en eust
ete advert! a temps, il n'eust pour rien du monde refuse de parler a eulx : et
selon leur demande il leur eust faict la responce telle, qu'ilz eussent eu grand
occasion de s'en contenter.

MEMORIA DE JOAN DE LA VANDERA.

EN QUE SE HACE RELACION DE LOS LUGARES Y TIERRA
DE LA FLORIDA FOR DONDE EL CAPITAN JUAN PARDO
ENTR<5 i. DESCUBRIR CAMINO PARA NUEVA ESPA&A POR
LOS A$?OS DE 1566, 1567.

EL ORIGINAL EN ARCHIVO DE S1MANCAS COPIA EN LA COLECCION DE MU2SOZ.

EMORIA de los lugares i que tierra es cada lugar de las provinclas
de la Florida por donde el Capitan Juan Pardo entro a descubrir
camino para Nueva Espafia desde la punta de Sancta Elena de las
dichas provincias los afios de 1566 i 1567, que todo es como se slgue.
Primeramente salio de Sancta Elena con su compania prosiguiendo el dicho
efecto, y el dia que salio fue a dormir a un lugar que se dice TJscamacu ; aqut es
isla cercada de rios, tierra arenisca i de mui buen barro para ollas i teja i otras
cosas que sean necessarias : hai en esta tierra buenos pedazos de tierra para
maiz i mucha cepa de viSa.

Desde Uscamacu salio derecho a otro luguar que se llama Aboya, a dohixo auto
i durmio : este Ahoya es isla, algunos rincones della cercados de rios i los
demas como tierra firme, i razonable tierra para maizes i tambien mochas cepas
de viSas con muchos sannientos. Desde Ahoya salio derecho a otro lugar qae
se llama Ahoyabe, pueblo pequeno subjeto a Ahoya i la misma tierra qoe cs

2pC APPENDIX.

Ahoya. Desde Ahoyabe salio deiecho a otio lugai que se llama Co9ao,ques un
Cacique algo giande i tiene mudia tiena buena como las demas dichas, i
muchos pedazos de tiena pednsca donde se puede cultivar el maiz, el ti igo, la
cevada, la vifia, todo geneiode fiutas i hueitas, poique hai nos, i arioyos dulces
i razonable tieira para todo

Desde Cozao salio deiecho a otio lugar pequiio ques de un mandador del
mismo Cozao , la tiena deste lugar es buena, peia poca Desde este lugar salio
derccho a otio que se dice el JEnfienado , tiena es miseia aunquehai muchos
uncones de mm buena tieira como las demas dichas. Desde el Enfienado salio
derecho a otio lugai que se llama Guiomaer, desde donde liasta la punta de
Sanca Elena hai quaienta leguas , el cammo por donde se fue algo tiabajaso, pero
tiena que se puede cultnar todo lo que en Cozao i aun mejor ; hai algunos pan-
tanos grandes i hondables, peio causalo la muhca llanuia de la tienra.

Desde Guiomaei salio deiecho a Canos, que los indios llaman Canobi, i poi
otro nombie tofetacque , hai en el teimino desta tieira tres o quationos razona-
bles, i euno mui caudaloso i aun los dos , hai algunos pantanos pequefios que
qualquier peisona aunque sea muchado los puede pasar por su pie , hai en este
trecho valles altos de mucha piedia i peiia i bajos ; es tierra beimeja mui buena
en, efeto mui mejor que todas las dichas

Canos es tierra que pasa uno de los dos lios caudalosos cabe el, i otios arroyos ;
tiene mui grandes vegas i mui buenas, i aqui i desde aqui adelante se coje
mucho maiz i hai rnucha uva gruesa i mui buena, i mala gruesa i menuda i de
otrasmuchas maneras , al fin es tieria que se puede situar pueblo puncipal Hay
hasta Sancta Elena cmquenta leguas, i hasta lamar como veinte leguas , puedese
ir hasta el por el no dicho cursando la tierra I mucho mas adelante por el
mismo no, I abirmsmo por el otro que pasa junto a Guiomaer

Desde Canot* salio deiecho a otro lugai se llama Jagaya, mui principal tierra
sin pantanos, tiena lasa, de poca aiboleda, pueta i bermeja mui buena, i de
mucha buen agua, fuentes i arroyos Desde Jagaya salio deiecho a otro lugar
que se llama Gueza, tierra ni menos ni mas que la de arnba, mui abundante de
buena Desde Gueza salio derecho a otio lugar que se llama Arauchi, tambien
tierra mui buena. Desde Aracuchi salio derecho a otro lugar que se llama
Olanyatiqui, ques Cacique i lengua de mucha tierra adelante, tieira mui abun-
dante de buena.

Desde este Otan a otro lugar que se llama Guatari hai como qumze o diez i
seis leguas, a la mano derecha mas debaxo del norte que este otro, en este-*ha
havido i hai dos Caciguas que son sefioras i no poco en conparacion de los demas
Caciques, porque en. su traje se sirven con pajes i damas ; es tiena nca t hai en

APPENDIX. 291

todos los lugaies mui buenas casas i buhios teireios reJon'lcs i mu: giM^I^ .
mui buenos ; es tieria de siena i campifia buena todo lo del muit-o e*:e
le vimos i estovimos vemte dias de buelta junto a este lugci pa^a u - n
caudaloso que viene a dai a Sauxpa i Usi, donde se tace sal j j*ro con la irar
sesenta leguas de Sancta Elena. Desde Sancta Elena a este G-iriar. hai echtnta
leguas, i poi este imsmo no se puede entrar mas de -veinte, se-ja cicen, t^r.1-
quier navio

Desde Otariyatiqui salio deiecho a otro lugar que se llama Qamthamii, JcrJltj
pasa otro no mui caudaloso , es> tiena mui buena i mui buena De^de el !a~2r
atias declarado la mano izquieida doze leguas del hai otro lugar qae &e Ham?
Issa, que tiene mui Imdas vegas i toda la tiena mui linda i muchcs 1:05 A
fuentes en la junsdicion deste Issa hallamos tres minas de crKral mm baeno ,
estas estan icgistradas en feto como si luego se oviera de sacai pro-vecho dellu-.
Todo esto vimos i entendimos a la buelta que bolvimos a Sancta Elena

Desde Quinahaqui salio derecno a otro lugar que se llama Aguaq^m, ques
tiena mui acabada de buena i fertil Desde Aguaqum salu derecho a one
lugar que se llama Joara, questa junto a la sierra i es donde Juan Pardo a la
primera joindda que hizo llego i quedo su sargento ; &e decir que es tan hnda
tierra como la hai en la meior da toda Espana, paia todos quantos generos de
cosas los liombres en ella quieian cultivai , hai hasta Sancta Elena cien legua.

Desde Joara salio paia la sierra adelante derecho a otro lugar que se llama
Tocax, donde en la pasai tardamos tres dias * en esta sierra hai mitcha uva,
mucha castana, mucha nuez, mucha cantidad de otras frutras , es mejor que
Siena Morena, poique hai en ella muchas vegas i la tieria muy poco fragosa
En Tocax es mui buena tieria, donde se pueden hacer giandes labranzas de
qualquier suerte. Desde Tocax salio derecho a otro lugar que se llama Caucbi,
muy pnncipal tieira , desde aqui adelaute compare e^ta tierra con el Andalitzia,
porques mui nca tierra toda ella. Desde Cauchi salio derecho a Tanasqm, qzie
tardamos en llegar a el tres dias por despoblado , es una tierra tan nca que nc
se como me lo encaresca. Desde Tanasqui salio derecho a otro lugar que se
llama Solameco, i por otro n ombre Chiaha ; es tierra mui nca i anchurosa, lagsr
grande cercado de rios mui lindos . hai en derredor deste lugar, a legua i a dos
leguas i a tres leguas i menos i mas, muchos lugares pequefio?, todos cercados
de rios ; hai unas vegas de vendicion, mucha uva i mui buena, mucho nispero ;
en efeto es tierra de Angeles

Desde Solameco salio derecho al Pomente a un lugar que se dice Chalaume, a
donde tardamos en llegar tres dias por despoblado, i a donde hallamos sierras
mas asperas que la sierra que nombramos ; en estos fuertes por donde pasamos

2g2 APPENDIX.

es tieria mui nca i agradable i fiesca al subir de una siena destas hallamos
humo de metal, i pieguntando a los alquimistas dixeion con juramento que era
de plata , Ilegamos a Chalaume, que tiene tan buen sitio de tieira en conipaiacion
como tiene la ciudad de Cordova, mui giandes vegas i mui buenas halli halla-
mos uvas tan buenas como las hai en Espana ; se decir ques tieira que paiesce
que Spanoles la han cultivado segun es buena.

Desde Chalahume saho derecho a otro lugar questa dos -leguas de alii i se
dice Satapo, desde donde nos bolvimos es pueblo razonable de buenas casas i
mucho maiz i muchas frutas silvestres, pero la tieria rica i mui agradable, i todos
estos lugaies i los de atras situados cabe mui lindos lios. Debde Satapo havi-
amos de ir derechos a Cosaque : cieo yo segun me infoimo de mdios i de un
soldado que llego alia desta compania i bolvio i dio cuenta de lo que vido, hai
cinco jornadas o seis hasta Cossa, tiena mui poco poblada, poique no hai mas de
tres lugaies pequenos, el pnraeio questa dos joinadas de Satapo que se dice
Tasqui en estas dos joinadas hai buena tiena i tres nos giandes, i un poco
mas adelante otro lugar que se dice Tasquiqui, i desde alh a otia joinada mas
adelante otro lugar destiuido que se dice Olitifar, todo buena tieria liana , i
desde alii a otias dos joinadas del despoblado mas adelante esta un lugar pequerio,
i mas adelante deste como una legua Cossa es pueblo grande, el mayor que hai
de&de Sancta Elena poi donde fuimos hasta llegar a el, tendra como hasta 150
vecinos, esto segun el grandoi del pueblo , es lugar mas nco que ninguno de los
dichos ; hai en el de ordmario gran cantidad de mdios ; esta situado en tiena
baxa a la halda de una sierra , hai en deriedor de la media legua i a quatio de
legua i a legua mui muchos lugares grandes ; es tierra mui abundante , esta su
sitio al sol de medio dia i aun a menos de medio dia. Desde Cossa haviamos
de ii derecho a Trascaluza, ques el fin de lo poblado de la Florida hai desde
Cossa a Trascaluza siete jornadas, i creo que hai en todas ellas dos lugares o ties ,
todo lo demas es despoblado. Tiascaluza se dice questa al sol de medio dia, i
que desde aqui a tieira de Nueva Spana hai, unos dicen que nueve jornadas,
otros que once, otros que tieze, i lo mas coraun nueve jornadas, todo de des-
poblado ; i en el medio de todo este camtno hai un lugar de quatro o cinco
casas, i despues prosiguiendo en el dicho efeto la pnmera poblacion que hai es
de Nueva Espana, segun dicen Ruego a Nuestro Senor lo provea como se le
haga servicio amen. Fecha en la punta de Sancta Elena vemte tres dias del
mes de Eneio afio de mil i quimentos i sesenta i nueve anos

APPENDIX, 293

CARTA QUE SE DA XOTICIA,

DE UN VIAJE HECHO Y LA BAHIA DE ESPIRITU SAXTO. TEXAS ;
Y DE LA POBLACION QUE TEXIAX AHI LOS FRANCESES.

EL ORIGINAL EN ARCHIVO DE SEVIANCA.S COPIA EX LA COLECCIOX DE 3CUNOZ.

i A, gracias a Dios, bolvimos de nuestro viaje, el qual hicimos en cin-
quenta dias con mucha felicidad, i el dia de S. Marcos descubrimos
la bahia del Espmtu Santo i la poblacion que tenian los Franceses,
la qual se componia de una rasa fuerte de madera con sus pernos
de fieno i el techo de tablazon clavado, i una capilla pegada del de d.cha ma-
dera, i otras cinco casas de madera aforradas con barro, con muchas troneras,
onlla de un nachuelo mui hondo que entra en la bahia del E^pintu Santo e!
sitio es mui llano ; la tieira mui amena i feitil , mucha abundancia de civolas i
pescado, i es cierto que causava lastima ver Ja ruina considerable que sucedio en
dicha poblauon, pues haviendo uua peste de nruelas, en que muneron mas de
cien franceses, segun supimos de los pocos que havian quedado vi\os, habra
tres meses los mataron los indios, con dos rebgiosos Recoletos i un clengo, que-
brando mas de cien arcabuces, frasqueras i caxas, llevandose ornamentos y cali-
zes, i trecientos arcabuces, mas de docientas pistolas, docientos alfanges, des-
pedazando i rompiendo mucha cantidad de libros, que hallamos desparramados
por los patios, i tres cuerpos que hallamos de un hombre, un mnchacho i nna
muger con sus vestiduras f los quales los enterramos i se les canto am misa, y
otra en hacimiento de gracias i Neustra Senora de Guadalupe por haver descu-
bierto dicha poblacion i bahia hallamos ochopiezas de artillena, las quales
dexe enterradas en parte sefialada, tres pedreros que los dos tnrce, aur.que sm
rec^maras- truxe dos franceses, que remito al Exc.- S.- Conde de Galve, los
quales hall^ con el governador de los Texas, i otros de ellos cerca de sus pobla-
ciones, que es gente muy pohtica, i siembran mucho mahiz, fnxoles, calabazas,
sandias y melones : dicen tienen nueve poblaciones, digo pueblos, el mayor de
ellos de quince leguas de largo i ocho u die* de ancho,en que tendm dicho
pueblo ochocientos vecinos, i cada uno de ellos con una casa muy grande de

294 APPENDIX

madeia, aforiado en bano i techada de cal, con su simenteia i pueita pegada a
dicha casa, i de esta foima se van siguiendo unas con otias En la paite donde
hallamos al indio Goveinadoi con los dos fianceses tenian un oiatono mui enia-
mado con floies con mucho aseo, i un altar con un tabeinaculo de \aias, donde
tenian imagines i un Santo Chiibto i un losario sobie el altai, con nlgunos
instrumentos de musica paia festejar d los santos tenia en medio del oiatono
unas biazas, en que echan pedazos de cebo por las mananas paia sahumar el
altar * tenian un cerro grande de leiia bien apilada, i en frente de la pueita
del oratorio una luminana de dia i noche encendida paia alumbiai a los santos ,
dos mdios de edad, santeios que llaman, que cuidan solo del oiatono, I estos
quando matan civolns 6 algun gcneio de caza, hasta que ellos le echan la bendi-
cion no comen de ella tienen mucho conocimiento que hai un solo Dios veida-
deio, que e^ta en los cielos, i que nacio de la Viigen Santissima, i hacen muchos
actos de ciistianos, i me pedia el indio Goveinador Munstios que le eiisenasen,
que ha muchos anos que una senoia entiava a veilos i a enseriailoy, i que esta
ha muchos tiempos que no va que es cieito es lastima que gente de tanta lazon.
que siembian i tienen conocimiento de que hai Dios, no tengan qiuen les
eii'-cne la ley evangelic;!,, mayoimente quando es una provmcia la de los Texas
tan giande i tiena tan feitil i de lindo temple. Se sirven con ollas i cant ai us
de bnrro- ponen sus ollas, i con tamales de maiz comen a uso de nosotios. Es
gente mm trabajadora, i hacen muchas curiosidades de petates, chiquiquites,
fajas de lana de crvola, i las tienen coloradas, i plumeios tambien tefiidos
Tienen muchos caballos i los estiman mucho, en que matan civolas. Los
franceses tienen reconocidas todas sus poblaciones, i tenian amistad con
eilos Adelante de los Texas en otros pueblos dicen esti un francos, digo
un fiaile de los Franceses, con otros ties 6 quatio . un clengo herniano del
Go\ernador frances Mons Sale paso por los Texas al Canada por habei mueito
un ingles al dicho Go\einador Mons Sale paia venir con mas gente a dicha
poblacion, por havei mueito los mas de viruelas, i no haver vuelto un navio de la
armada del Rey de Francia que truxo cien hombies pagados por el Rey, ciento
i cinquenta barriles de polvora, ocho piezas de aitillena de bionce, quatiocientos
arcabuzes, docientas pistolas, docientos alfanges i muchos instrumentos i pertre-
chos de guerra, como son balas, palanquetas, granadas i otras municiones, que
todo lo dex6 al Mons Sale en la bahia del Espmtu Santo, i que las ocho piezas
de bronce que venian en otro navio lo hicieron varai en el puerto, sacando lo
mas que se pudo de el, i que el navichuelo pequefio al cabo de seis meses se
perdio en la bahia con un Norte grande la nap de la armada se bolvio a
Francia i no ha buelto : podra ser buelva con mas gente. Estos ha cinco aftos

295

que entiaion a esta bahia en busca de la pnmei poblacion que hicieron ha\ra
nueve anos, donde eia el pi imer f ranees que truxe, la qaal poi diligenwas t^uc
hicieion, in poi mai 111 poi tieiia lian podido descubnr, ni tienen razor, n: de
los indios, aunque en la boca del 110 Mons. Sale quanuo fue a France a dnr
quenta a el Rev, paia tiaer mas gente, dexo una cruz por serial con un escud^, :
en el las armas del Rey de Francia e-sta la pudieron los in JIGS quitar, . com,*
entian tantos iiachuelos i esteios en la mai, no han atmado con la entraua >.asti:
llegai a la poblacion, que esta\a no arriba di^tante de la mar pue^e ser ha\a
sido peimision, pnes siendo tan grandes manneros no hayan podido cossegah
el descubuilo, aunque han hecho por tieira i poi mar nruchas dihgencias Dice
el fiances primeio que desde donde esta la poblacion que \imos .1 la otra que
teman, poi tieiia, pasando unos rios mui caudalosos a nado i a la li^era, se p^n^i
un mdio que el embiava quando venia colando por estas partes en diez d'a* i
que por mai a la bahia, que lo anduvo el en dos 6 tres ocasiones, se ponia en
quatio dias en un barco. El trato que quenan asentar los Franceses eio. tie
pieles i lana de civolas, cebo I manteca i palo de Brasil, que de todo hai macha
abundancia teman ya mucha cria de murranos ; sembravan xnau, calabaza,
sandlas i melones i legumbies, como son escarolas i esparragos i otnii cosillas,
que poi no cansai a Vm. no doi mas razon por menudo solo si digo que es de
las t tienas mas fei tiles i de lindo temple que yo he visto, i hai muchisima uba,
que estando en agras es mas gruesa que la de parras, i quando madura es mm
dulce, segun dicen los franceses Guarde Dios a Vm. muchos afios Cuahuila
i Mayo diez i echo de mil seiscientos ochenta i nue\e aiios. Remiti mapa i
diario al Exc. 1 " S or Conde de Galve de donde esta la bahia del Espiritu Santo,
con el islote en medio de su entrada, que tendra cerca de un quarto de legua en
contorno la bahia dicen tiene veinte leguas de largo i diez u doce de ancho
esta en veinte i nueve girados i tres minutes, aunque el astrolabio estava algo
vencido la poblacion cae de la entrada al Sudueste Norde^te como doce leguas
de la boca, dos leguas arriba por un riachuelo que deseraboca en dicha Lahia
Cuahuila, 18 de Ma>o do 1689.

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT

OF WORKS ON THE INDIAN LANGUAGES OF FLORIDA
AND TEXAS

FROM the discovery of North and South America, the languages of the natives
have always been, as they still are, an object of the highest inteiest to the scholar
and the missionary ; and -wherever the scientific woild has been diawn to them,
it has been mainly by the investigation of the pious missionaries, who, mspned
by religious zeal, imperilled their lives to teach them Christianity, we are
indebted for our knowledge of then languages, and to leained philologists foi
their classification and comparative view of the abouginal languages of this
continent. With true love for this bianch of philological studies, it has evei
been the purpose of the author of this and pievious volumes of the " Historical
Collections of Louisiana and Florida" to note the woiks published in this
and other countries to aid the student in the investigation of Ameiican Indian
languages, which must in time lead to most interesting icsults

Father FRANCISCO PAREJA, a native of Spam, one of the founders of the
Franciscan Order in Sf, Elena, Florida ; and guardian of the fiist convent estab-
lished theie, has published the following woiks on the Timuaca ( Ti mttguana)
language of Florida, viz. * Confesionano en lengua Castellana y Timuquana,
Mexico, 1612 ; Catechismo y Examen para los que comulgan en lengua Ca&tel-
lana y Timuquana, Mexico, 1617 ; Gramatica de la lengua Timuquana de
Florida, Mexico, 1614. Father GREGORIO MORILLA published "Doctima
Cristiana," a book on the administration of saciaments, in. the Tinqua language
of Florida, Mexico, 1635 In a letter addressed by Mr KIDDER, of Boston, to
the Indian Bureau, at Washington, he informs the Secretary that he has in his
possession a manusciipt vocabulary of five hundied or more words of the Semi-
note language Vocabulanes of the Seminole and Mickasuke Indians have like-
wise been published by B. SMITH and M. COHEN

A. PIKE has recently deposited in the "Smithsonian Institute" a lare MS.
containing over eleven hundred words of that remarkable semi civilized nation,
the Natchez^ of which but few words have heretofore been published or known
to exist by early writers.

In the Mnseo Mexicano, tomo 3, p. 537, mention is made of a work entitled
" Manuel para administrar los S. S. Sacramentos a los Indios de las Naciones
de Texas;" Compuesto por el P. FRAY BARTOLOMEO GARCIA, Predicador
Apostolico ; Franciscano de la Mission de San Antonio de Texas, 1769, 4to

CONTENTS.

COLONIAL HISTORY OF LOUISIANA, WITH HISTORICAL AND
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

PAOZ

Introduction v

Memoir of Sieur Cavalier de la Salle, addressed to Monseig-

neur de Seignelay . translated from the French, with notes I
Official account of M de la Salle's exploration of the Missis-
sippi (Colbert) River to its mouth, 1682: translated from

the Fiench, -with notes 1 7

Historical Journal of the Expedition ordered by the King of
France, under the command of M. Pierre Le Moyne
d'Iberville, in 1698, to take possession of and colonize
Louisiana; with an account of the numerous Indian tribes
of that country : translated (and printed for the first time)

from a copy of the original manuscript, with notes 31

Addenda. Historical summary II<5

Note. Biographical sketch of M- P. Le Moyne d'Iberville 31

Note. Extract from a letter addressed to Father Jean de Lam-
berville, by Father Jacques Gravier, who descended the
Colbert (Mississippi) River to meet M. d'Iberville, Gover-
nor-General, on his arrival to take possession of Louisiana*. 79

298 CONTENTS

PAGE

Memoir (Pieces veibal) of the taking possession of ths country
of the Upper Mississippi, in the name of the King of
France, 1689 122

Historical memoir sent by Louis XIV., King of France, to 3VI.
de Denonville, Governor-General of New France, 1668,
wuh notes . 12^

Note Biographical sketch of Sieur Louis Joliet, one of the

explorers of the Mississippi River, 1672 . .. 14^

Note. Letter from Louis de Buade, Comte de Fiontenac, Gov-
ernor-General, to M. Colbeit, 1674, on the e^ploiation of
the Mississippi as far as the Aikinsas River, by Father
Marquette and Sieur Johet 141

COLONIAL HISTORY OF FLORIDA, WITH HISTORICAL AND
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Introduction 145

Note. Letter from Don Christopher Columbas to Don Luis de

Santangel on his first discoveries, 1493 145

Proclamation of Pamfilo de Narvaez, Governor-General, to
the inhabitants (Indians) of the Provinces of Florida, 1527 153

Note. Extract from the memoir of De las Casas on the barbarous

treatment of the Indians of Florida by the Spaniards 156

Narrative of the first voyage made by Captain Jean de Ribault,
by order of Charles IX., King of France, to take possession
o and found a colony of French Protestants (Huguenots),
in Florida, 1562 : with notes 159

Note. Biographical sketch of Gaspard de Coligny, Grand Ad-
miral of France . . , 1 60

CONTENTS. 299

PAGE

Note. Historical Summary ........ 189

Memoir of the Spanish Expedition made by order of Philip II.,
m 1565, under the command of Don Pedro Menendez de
Aviles, to take possession of, and colonize the eastern
coast of Florida, and to expel the French Protestants
(Huguenots), established there in 1564, by Francisco
Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, chaplain of the expedition .
translated from the French, with notes 101

Note. Narrative by Don Solis de las Meras, of the massacre of
the shipw recked French colonists, and officers and men of
the expedition sent out under the command of Captain
Ribault, in 1565, to reinforce the colony : translated from
the Spanish, with notes 216

Note. Letter from Pope Pius V. to Don Pedro Menendez de
Aviles, on the expulsion of the French colonists, in 1565,
from Florida, on his return to Spain 222

Note. Roman Catholic missions and missionaries in Florida. . 230

Memoir on the country and ancient Indian tribes of Florida,
by Hernando d'Escalante Fontanedo : translated fiom the
Fiench translation of the original memoir, with notes 235

Note. Ex ti act from the narratives of Guido de las Bazares and
Don Angel de la Villafane, describing the bays and ports
of the east and west coasts of Florida : translated from the
French translation of the original memoirs, 1559 236

Historical summary and geographical account of the early vo}-
ages and explorations of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlan-
tic coast of Florida, by the French and Spaniards 24 2

30O CONTENTS.

APPENDIX.

PA&E

Historical Summary of the remarkable expedition of Chevalier
Dominique de Gourgue to the eastern coast of Florida, to
punish the Spaniards for the massacre of the French Prot-
estant (Huguenot) colony m Floiida, 1565 265

LA REFRINSE DE LA FLO RIDE par Cappitaine Gouigue. 266

Memoria de Joan de la Vandera en que se hace relacion de los
lugares y tierra de la Florida por dondo el Capitan Juan
Pardo entro 6, descubne camino para Nueva Espana por los
Anos de 1566-1567 289

Carta en que se da noticia de un viaje hecho a la bahia de
Espintu Santo, Tejas (Texas) ; y de la poblacion que tenian
ahi los Franceses, 1689 293

Historical notice of works published on the Indian languages of

Florida and Texas 296